A Tale of Two Hearts
by SeraphOfMortality
Summary: This is a tale of a young girl was forced to be a Nobody. She must choose to fight for her new family, the Organization, or for the people from the life she once knew. This is the tale of her and her loved ones. This is a tale of two hearts.
1. The Storm

Hey everybody! This is my own personal Kingdom Hearts II fanfic. I recommend that you beat the first and second game before reading, so as not to confuse anyone. You don't necessarily have to beat "Chain of Memories". I didn't. I just found the info I needed on the web. But, you definitely should beat KH I and II. This story takes place during the second game and also flash backs from when the main character was young. I do not own any characters from the game or Disney movies. I only own Raene, the main character. Her name is pronounced like 'Rain'. Anyhow, I made minor changes to the story plot of Kingdom Hearts I and II, but I made up a plot that should make since. Ok, on with the story. Enjoy! D

Two sisters sat on the queen size bed in the corner of the room, holding each other in their arms. The storm outside scared them; the tropical, stormy weather was nothing like the cool, windy, clear-skied weather of their hometown. The twins had only arrived there earlier that day and were now staying in one of the many guestrooms in the governor's mansion. Lightning bolts and roars of thunder surrounded them. The younger twin had awaken the first time the storm sounded and had run over to her older sister's bed, which was on the wall away from the window.

"I don't like the storm outside, sis," the younger one whined. Usually she was braver then her older sister, but loud sounds had always started to scare her…ever since one night about a year ago when she awoke to loud crashes coming from downstairs. That night she and her sister lost their father, their last living family member. She had been the one to witness the death of her father at the hands of unknown creatures with bright glowing eyes. These creatures now were the reason why they were sleeping in unfamiliar beds in a new home. Her sister was the lucky one; she had been sound asleep and didn't see the horrible tragedy.

"It's OK. You may not like the storm, but just remember that you love the rain," the other one whispered brushing her younger sister's fiery red hair way from her tear-stained face. The younger one smiled and then brushed her sister's hair away from her face too. They looked exactly the same. They were the same height, same weight, and same shape. They both had flawless pale skin and hair that reached about an inch or two past their shoulders. The only thing different was the hair color. While the younger one had hair that was red-orange, the older one had more of a purple tent to the red color.

They had fled their hometown a few weeks ago on their sixth birthday. On that day, their kingdom had fallen into darkness. Even though they were only children, they felt it was their duty to stay with their people. But the man who took over the part as King when their father died advised them to leave for their safety. The girls never saw much of this man, but they both knew that he had their best interest at heart. He was their father's childhood friend who would hold the thrown until the girls became of age. As a kid, this man had lost his parents so he was taken in and raised like a son in the royal family. The two girls did as the King said and left, bringing nothing with them but the clothes on their backs…

A large bolt of lightning struck down just outside the large window. The girls were staring into each other's eyes as it happened and they saw the light reflect into the ocean blue color. Their eyes were another aspect that made them identical. They were a beautiful ocean blue color that stood out brilliantly against their pale complexion. As the light from the storm left the room and the sound of thunder died away, an eerie feeling befell the sisters. Not wanting to take their eyes off each other, they tried to see around the room with their peripheral vision. They both felt as if someone were watching them.

A few minutes passed and the storm began to blow away into the horizon. The strange feeling had left the girls. The full moon came out and shined right through the window. They felt safe and decided to try and drift off to sleep. They both rested their backs against the wall facing the open window to watch the last raindrops roll down the glass. They grabbed the large, plush quilt and brought it up to their shoulders, trapping themselves in warmth. But no matter how much the tried to sleep, they just couldn't drift off. They both moved around the bed several times trying to find a comfortable position, but nothing suited either of them. They finally gave up and just decided to talk quietly.

The two girls bent down on their knees facing each other on the bed with the quilt wrapped around their waists. "What if we don't make any friends here?" the younger twin asked her sister with pure worry in her voice.

"Don't worry yourself so much. We'll find friends. Don't you remember when our boat came in today? We passed by that small little island right off shore; there were lots of kids there. I bet we could make friends with them," the elder said very sure of what she was saying.

"You mean 'I'm sure I'LL make friends.' Of course you will make friends, you always do; you are the nice twin that everyone wants to be friends with, and I'm the weird twin who everyone wants to make fun of," the younger one said back growing sadder by the second. She knew her sister was the perfect twin and that she was just the outcast of everything.

"That's not true! You're great fun to hang out with! Just because we are identical doesn't mean we have to be the same in every way. You WILL make friends here, on this island," she said once again trying to cheer her sister up.

"Promise?" the younger asked a small smile coming to her rosy cheeks.

"I Promise," she said as she pulled the fiery redhead into her arms for a suffocating hug.

When she released, both of the sisters' necklaces fell out from under the neck of their dresses. They each had a large diamond-cut-like stone that was shaped like a heart attached to a silvery chain. The hearts were the twin stones of their hometown. One was black and one was snow white. Their mother had given them to the twins right before she died when they were just a few hours old. The older sister had the white one and the younger had the black one. The rare stones were said to balance each other out in all the ways of the universe: good and evil, light and dark, day and night.

In their hometown, it was like a prophecy that the royal family had two twin girls every few generations. These necklaces had been passed down from each set of twins to the next. Their father had two younger sisters who were twins. When they died in their teenage years, their father had given the stones and put them in his wife's position. One twin would always be more mischief then the other and that one would get the black stone. When their mother was dying, she felt that the younger one would be that kind of girl, so she gave it to her. Their mother was right.

Now as they sat there staring at the beautiful stones around each other's necks, memories of their once beautiful hometown began to flood their minds; flowers and waterfalls. Smiling people and good times. All of a sudden a dark reflection appeared in the shiny surface of the stones. The sisters looked towards the window to see a black mist started to flow out from the soft carpet. A figure stepped out of the abyss. His body shape obviously said that he was a man. He was very tall. The mysterious man was dressed in a black coat that went down to the floor and had a hood that covered his face. The man took a step towards the startled girls. They both back against the wall of the bed, frozen in fear.

The color drained from their faces as the man bent down in front of the two girls. He was so tall that even though he was on his knees, his head came level to the girls' sitting on the bed. He scooted in front of the older twin. He looked over her from top to bottom. The small light from the moon reflecting off his eyes showed that he was looking for something. He stopped his looking when his gaze fell upon the large, white heart around her neck. The corner of his shadowed lips curled. He then kneeled in front of the younger twin. He did the same as he did to the other. He raced his eyes over her body looking…looking…he reached his hand out to her. She flinched as a gloved hand touched her fiery hair. He drew back his hand with a smile and then glanced down noticing the same necklace only in black around her neck. He held out a hand to each girl, palm facing up. "Hand over your hearts," he whispered in a fierce but quiet voice.

Both girls' right hands shot up to their necklace and clutched it firmly in their fist. "Very well then," he said shooting his hands out and grabbing hold of each girl's wrist. He gave a slight pull, unclasping the hook, which kept the chain around their necks closed. He then let go of the twins' wrists. The girls held tight on to the stones in their hands. They weren't ever going to get separated from them.

"I only need you and your heart actually," he said grabbing hold of the younger twin's left wrist. Both girls' eyes widened as the young girl was dragged off from her sister. The older sister took her empty hand and grabbed hold of the bedpost, and with the hand holding the necklace she reached out to her little sister. The younger sister tried desperately to drag her feet on the carpet to prevent the man from taking her away. She saw her sister's hand reaching out to her so she reached her right hand out and grabbed hold of her sister's hand. The two stones collided within the two palms.

The man continued to pull the young girl closer to the black mist but the two girls continued to hold on with all their strength. The pressure caused by holding onto each other's hands was enough to crush the stones. All of a sudden a flash of light exploded from the two palms. Everyone in the room froze to watch. The man stopped his struggle and the girls stared in wonder at what was happening. The twins let go of each other's hands and to their surprise the two necklaces were floating in midair. Then a huge wave of light flooded the room and everyone was forced to close their eyes. When the light faded, the twins opened their eyes and looked back to the stones. Instead of one white stone and one black stone there were two stones but each were split down the middle with one half of each being black and the other half being white.

The necklaces then floated back to the girls and re-clasped behind their necks. The older sister looked down to see that the half side of her necklace closest to her right shoulder was no longer white, but now a black color. At the same time the younger sister looked down to notice that the half near her right shoulder was white instead of black. The right side of the two necklaces had switched. When reality came back to the mysterious man, he realized why he was here. He then started pulling the younger sister into the mist.

The older sister reached out once again, but her younger sister was now too far away to reach. She watched as part of her little sister began to fade away along with the man who took her. She screamed out her younger sister's name, knowing that it might be the last time they ever saw or heard of each other, "Raene!"

Raene was pulled into the black abyss. The last thing she heard was her sister calling out her name. As she tried to scream back to her the moonlit room that she was just in disappeared completely. But she tried to scream back anyway hoping that, if miracles could happen, her sister could hear her too, "Kairi!"

Hope you guys like it! This was just basically the first flashback. It is the youngest memory that Raene had of the people dressed in black cloaks, who she will later have to not be so afraid of. The next issue is gonna be another flashback, it's gonna be of when she arrives at the Organization's headquarters. I might have one more flash back after that or I will just connect those two into one. Hope you enjoyed! D R/R Please


	2. The Organization

**Hey everyone!! I hope you all liked this one. I'm gonna try and have the next one out next week hopefully. I must warn you this one is extremely long and will take quite a long time to read. It was like 17 pages on Microsoft Word on 12-point font. Sorry )**

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"Kairi!!" I screamed as I was dragged away into darkness. After several attempts to break free from the man's grip I gave up and just let him drag me through the emptiness. I couldn't see anything. All I could feel was the gloved hand wrapped around my wrist. I couldn't even tell if I was being dragged along a ground or anything, it just felt as if I were floating in a black ocean that went on forever.

I closed my eyes trying to fight back tears that were soon to come. Finally, I felt myself hit a smooth surface. I opened my eyes. I was face down on a cold, shiny white marble floor. I got up to my hands and knees and looked around in front of me. The darkness was gone, white and silver colors now surrounded me. I was in a large white room. It had tall ceilings and reflecting floors. The walls were the same color as everything else. I stood up, no one was around. The mysterious man was gone too. It was quiet, too quiet. I slowly turned around, and almost wished I hadn't.

Behind me were several people dressed like the other man all gathered together and the base of two elegant, white marble staircases. They all had their hoods pulled up so I couldn't see their faces either. I quickly started stumbling backwards not removing my eyes from the people. I kept moving until I ran into something…someone. I froze the second I felt the warmth touch my skin. I spun around to see a boy standing there. He was a couple of inches taller than me and had his hood down so I could see his facial features.

He had a slender face and flawless, clear, pale skin. He looked to be only a few years older than I. He had a pair of beautiful green eyes that stood out greatly against his long, fiery red hair. His hair was the same exact color as mine but his spiked out in all directions. There were two upside-down raindrop symbols under each of his eyes. The boy was very thin like me and had slender arms and frame. He had a surprised look on his face, but it quickly changed to a warm smile, not like the smirk smile that the man had before he took me. I, without thinking, fell into his arms and began to cry into his chest.

His smile snapped back into the surprised look. He raised an eyebrow before softly placing his arms around my thin body. After my crying softened, he took both of my wrists in each of his hands and pulled my face up to look at him. I looked up. He took a step over to the others, releasing my wrists. I grabbed a hold of his hand as he let go. He turned back, smiled then pulled away again.

As he took a place in the group, I looked around at everyone. Most of the people looked as if they were adults, no younger than twenty. But there were four, including the redheaded boy, who stood off to the side who looked like kids. The redheaded boy was the tallest of them, 'he must be the oldest of the four' I figured. He pulled his hood over his spikes and smiled once more as his face became shrouded in shadows.

A few moments of silence passed before someone stepped forward. The person who walked over to me was very tall. He had broad shoulders and appeared very muscular. As he came in front of me he took off his hood and let it fall behind him. He had long, silver hair that reached passed his shoulders. He had golden brown eyes that, in the right light, looked like fire.

"Welcome, Xarene," he said, "to the Organization." He spoke with a very deep voice that frightened me terribly.

"Xarene? My name _is_ Raene," I said back trying to sound brave, but it only came out in a trembling whimper.

He laughed. "Alright then, _Raene_. How 'bout I introduce you to everyone?" He said holding out his hand, not exactly for me to take it but like as if he were asking me to give him permission to continue. I looked over at the redheaded boy with a pleading look. I felt as if I could trust him for some reason. He just nodded so I looked up at the man and nodded too. "My name is Xemnas, number one, The Superior." He then turned to the crowd, or now that I counted, twelve other people. This is Xigbar, number two, The Freeshooter," he said pointing to a thin man. The man stepped forward and removed his hood. He had dark hair that had grey streaks and was pulled back into a low ponytail. He had an eye-patch over his right eye and a deep scar on his left cheek. He then stepped back into the crowd and another man stepped forward. "This is Xaldin, number three, The Whirlwind Lancer." The man took off his hood just as Xigbar did. He had wild, long, black hair that was in several braids. He placed his hands behind his back and stepped into the crowd again.

Xemnas continued to introduce the others. There was Vexen, number four, The Chilly Academic who had long dirty blonde hair and Luxaeus, number five, The Silent Hero who was quite large looking who had small spikes of dark red hair. Then there was number six, Zexion, The Cloaked Schemer. He was the shortest of the adults and by far the youngest of them all. He had silvery, purple hair that covered one side of his face and he had no expression.

Next was number seven. From the second he stepped forward, I knew who he was. "This is Saïx, The Luna Diviner." He took off his hood and let his blue silver hair fall over his shoulders. He had an X-shaped scar on his face. He was the man who brought me here. I just kept a straight face as Xemnas went onto the next person. "This is Axel, number eight, The Flurry of Dancing Flames." The redheaded boy walked forward keeping a straight face just like me. He walked up to me and bowed. I had been taught manners all my life, and even if these people had taken me away, I stilled felt it rude not to do the same. I bent forward slightly and smiled as I looked up at him. He smiled back. "Axel here will be showing you around later on," Xemnas said. I nodded and watched as The Superior introduced number nine. He was one of the children and his name was Demyx, The Melodious Nocturne. He had light brown hair that stuck straight out of the top of his head. He had a playful smile. I guessed that he was older than me but younger than Axel.

Xemnas than introduced Luxord, number ten, The Gambler of Fate. He was tall and had short blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. Next was number eleven, Marluxia, The Graceful Assassin. I could tell he was one of the younger adults. He had light brown hair that seamed to have a pinkish shade to it. I held back a laugh at that.

There were just two left now. They were the shortest of everyone, and the youngest. I could tell. The taller and elder of the two stepped forward. The person took off its hood, and I was surprised to see that it was a girl. She had bright blonde hair that fell at her shoulders. There were two strands of hair that seamed to stand up on their own on either side of her head. This girl was very thin, and surprisingly curvy for someone who looked to be same age as Demyx, someone so young. "This is Larxene, number twelve, The Savage Nymph." I smiled at her, pleased to see that there was at least one other girl around here. But she didn't return the gesture. Instead, she glared at me with narrow eyes and simply said, "humph" as she stuck her nose in the air and turned on her heel. Lastly, the final person stepped forward; the youngest, shortest person here. He took off his hood as I sighed at his looks. He was quite good looking. He had to have been the same age as me. He had sandy blonde hair that spiked up higher on one side of his head more than the other. His eyes were the same color as mine. As I looked into them, I saw my sister looking back at me. I tried to hold back tears as Xemnas said his name. "This is Roxas, number thirteen, The Key of Destiny."

I smiled as he bowed just as Axel did. I returned the gesture. "Now _Raene_…" There he went again saying my name with sarcasm. "…This is the Organization—Organization XIII. I'm sure that Roxas and Axel, seeing as you can never separate them, will be happy to make you feel as comfortable as possible here," Xemnas said. "But from now on, your name isn't 'Raene.' That is your true name. You are a Nobody now, and because of that, you must have a name belonging to a Nobody. From now on, like I said before, you will be addressed as 'Xarene. Your title is number fourteen, The Seraph of Mortality.' Is that understood?"

"No! No it's not understood! My name is 'Raene,' not 'Xarene,' ok!? I'm not one of these '_Nobodies' _got it?! No one can take away somebody else's name!" I yelled getting angrier by the second. First these people took me from my new home, and now they were trying to take me away from my identity.

"Superior, if I may say so myself, she isn't a Nobody just _yet_. Perhaps, since she isn't one she could keep her name. I mean, we weren't actually going to make her a member at all; she would be like _Miss Lonesome_ upstairs. Besides, she might listen better if we make her happier," said Zexion stepping forward.

"Fine, she can keep her name. But in files, she is Xarene, how's that," Xemnas said turning back to me. "Alright then Raene, keep your filthy true name. I guess we could lend you some slack since we have taken away everything else from you; your dreams, your family, your home… This is your new home now…"

At this, my eyes started to swarm with tears. I ran away, not having any idea where I was going, but I just kept moving; running down hallways and up staircases every time I came to one.

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"Alright, everyone clear out! Roxas, go find her. Axel, stay here. Demyx and Larxene, back to your studies. All of you, out of my sight. Xigbar, get me a drink," Xemnas said giving out orders once Raene had left.

"Yes, Superior?" Axel asked approaching his master. Axel tried to act as loyal as possible even though he hated Xemnas' guts.

"Do you know why she is here?" He asked. Axel just shook his head. He actually didn't, neither did any of the youngest members. "She is _the_ _key to our destiny_."

"I thought Roxas was _The_ _Key of Destiny_, sir," Axel said not looking Xemnas in the eye.

"He is. But she along with him, are going to help us with full rebirth. I know this makes little since to you. I didn't expect it to. Why would a mere boy of _nine_ years understand such a complex subject? Anyhow, she is here because of the prophecies. Have you ever heard of the Age of Prophecies, Axel?"

"Very little, sir," Axel answered still not meeting his eyes.

"The Age of Prophecies is a time that will take place in around eight years. Roxas can wield the Keyblades because his other is the chosen Keyblade Master. As you probably know, the prophecies sent visions to me showing what will happen in the future. They showed me what was to become of Roxas' true being. They showed me how Roxas originally came to be. Roxas would have gotten here near the end of the first year of the Age of Prophecies. He would have been born because of his other temporarily turning to Darkness. But since I foresaw this, I was able, along with the other founding members, to bring the Organization together early. Six years ago, we were able to get all of the members that would have come anyway, to arrive here; the first twelve members. Every person who would be at least twenty years old at the Age of Prophecy got to keep that age form when they got here. But, they wouldn't age a single day until Roxas turned fourteen. The other four members who would be younger than twenty had fifteen years taken away. That is why you came here at the age of three and Roxas at the age of just a newborn. All of you younger members lost the maturity that you had when you were older. You basically had to start over. Do you understand so far?"

"I think so, sir. Does this have anything to do with why Demyx, Larxene, and I don't remember our past lives as well as the other members?" Axel asked.

"Yes, since you all had to start over, most of your memories went away. You should start to see them as you age, but I doubt anything will be as clear as ours. Now, Roxas and Naminé don't remember anything from their past lives because their others were only in Darkness for a short while." Axel nodded his head in understanding. "Raene is a very special person. She is able to wield the Keyblades. This is only because she is connected to her sister, who in the future, will have her heart live in Roxas' other. From what I saw when Saïx took her here, she and her sister's hearts joined. The necklaces they carry represent them…their hearts. When Raene was taken away, half of her sister…the daughter of Light…joined with Raene. Just as half of Raene's…the daughter of Darkness…joined with her sister. I want you to explain everything to Raene: the Heartless, the Nobodies, how darkness and hearts work. I also want to explain this…"

Axel leaned slightly forward, awaiting all the juicy details.

"Raene will be able to see her sister, but not how she wishes. She will be able to see visions of her. She will be able to see, feel, taste, smell, and know everything that is going on in her sister's life. Especially when something important is happening, Raene may just go into a certain trance. You mustn't bother her when she is like this. Also let her know that memories of her sister will come and overwhelm her at times. Her sister will not be able to see things happening to Raene though. Her sister doesn't see the Darkness that represents Raene. But Raene sees the light of her sister that now takes up half her heart. Does everything make sense, do you think you can explain this well enough?"

"I think so…will Raene become a Nobody, sir? Now that she is here, is she to be truly one of us? And also, why is it that you had to capture her? What do the Prophecies say that makes it so important for the Organization to make her like one of us?" Axel asked.

"Eventually, yes. She, after years of being raised as one, will slowly be one of us. She will always show aspects of being human though. And because she will still be part Nobody, if she completely turns to darkness, she will disappear, much as we would if we went away any further, as if we died once again. And, about your second question…The Prophecies say that if we were to have left her in her new home, she would have prevented Darkness from reaching that world. We need the Darkness to reach that world so Roxas' other could gain the Keyblade. We need the Keyblade to become whole again. Don't you want to be whole again, Axel…and be able to see the ones you love again?"

"Actually, sir, I don't remember anything about the ones I love, nothing at all, so I don't really care to become whole again," he answered truthfully.

"Well, you may not remember, but most of us do, and it is our one and only hope to become human once more. That is why we had to stop her from protecting the island. Her Dark powers would have been overpowered by the goodness around her to the extent of her destroying all Darkness that came to her home. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir, I understand," Axel replied bowing to Xemnas.

"Very good, then. Go find her. Oh, and Axel…mention to her that Roxas can't know the truth. Explain all of _that_, make sure he doesn't find out about his other and that she won't say a word. I have a feeling that she will be a difficult one to trust…" Xemnas said before stepping into a portal of darkness.

Axel turned quickly knowing exactly where the newcomer had gone. She would have gone as far away as possible, which meant she was in _her_ room on the other side of the castle. He quickly drowned himself in a portal and reappeared in front of a white door at the end of a long and narrow hallway. He hesitated before slowly reaching forward and turning the doorknob…

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I were sitting in, yet another, all white room. The ceiling and floor were polished so smoothly that together they created a never-ending reflection back and forth to each other. Not only were the walls white too, but all the furniture was white as well. The only colorful thing in the room besides Roxas and myself were several drawings in the room. They scattered the floors and walls and furniture. But, I hadn't yet had time to look at them. You were sitting on a long white table that scanned the entire room. The table had two simple chairs at either end. There was a small dresser at one end behind one of the chairs and a white marble fireplace at the opposite end. There was a large window on the wall opposite the door that nearly covered the whole wall from side to side and top to bottom. Thin, silky white curtains blew even though there was no wind. A small twin bed with white blankets sat parallel to the window. The room was brightly lit even though it was dark outside. The only source of light was a white crystal chandelier hanging over the center of the table, but it wasn't lit, which seamed to question me even more.

"It's OK, Raene. I'm sure Axel will be here in a minute to explain everything. There has to be a reason why you are here…"

Just then Axel opened the door and stepped in, closing the door quietly behind him. "Roxas, go find Naminé. They need to meet," he said.

"Wait, why do you get to know everything, then she gets to know everything, and Naminé gets to know everything already, and I don't get the story at all?!" Roxas objected.

"Calm down, you'll hear the story. Just go find her, I'll tell you later."

Roxas without saying a word walked over to the door, but instead of walking through it, he simply opened up a portal to take him wherever he was intending to go. Roxas became engulfed within the portal and disappeared. But, his cloak was left behind sitting on the floor. "Awww, darn it!" shouted a muffled voice from outside the door. Axel and I waited a minute before Roxas came back in through the door with only his pants, shoes and shirt on. He stomped over to his cloak, threw it over his head and stomped out of the door.

"He's not quite as good at teleporting as he would like," Axel said after a moment of awkward silence. I just chuckled slightly, waiting for him to start talking again.

"Raene, I'm gonna explain everything, and well, I don't expect you to understand everything at first, ok?" I nodded. "Also, I might say something, then move on, and have to go back, because that thing may not make any sense without me talking about something else, so bare with me, ok?" I nodded again.

"Ok, well…umm…do you know what a Heartless is?" I shook my head. He jumped off the table from sitting next to me and began to walk around the room looking at the drawings. He finally picked one up and brought it over to me. "This is a Heartless," he said sitting back on the table and holding out the drawing. I immediately jumped off the table and backed into the corner. "What's wrong?!" Axel protested jumping off the table once more.

My eyes started to water and I choked out an explanation. "My…my father…was…" But I didn't get to finish because Axel had come over to me and placed my head against his chest. I sobbed for a minute then continue with what I was going to say. "Those…things…killed my father."

"I'm so sorry," Axel said looking at his feet as I pulled away.

"Those things killed him and took over my home. My sister and I had to flee to survive. That's why we were at that island…" I sighed and let the story drop there.

Axel waited then continued. "I'm sorry." He paused. "By their name, you can tell that they are ones without hearts. When a person turns to Darkness by any means, they become a Heartless. Now, Heartless come in many different shapes and sizes. They feed off of hearts. Some people, when they turn to Darkness keep somewhat of a similar being to their real appearance. Others change to look completely different." I listened very carefully grasping everything he was saying and trying to understand it all. He continued, "There are other creatures too, they are called Nobodies. They are what's left of people when they lose more than just a heart. If a strong hearted person turns to Darkness, they lose their heart, but they also lose more. They become the non-existent. They too, also come in many different shapes and sizes. And just how some people get to keep a similar form to their true beings when they become Heartless, so do Nobodies. They are us; the Organization…Organization XIII. We control the lesser Nobodies. We got to keep our original form and memories. Lesser Heartless and Nobodies forget their pass lives."

I waited a little bit, watching my shoes before looking back up at him. "Ok, Raene, this is where I might have to totally go back and re-word some stuff that I say so that it will make sense. Where should we start? Ok, well, there is a weapon called the Keyblade. It is an almighty powerful weapon that can either stop Darkness or feed it. There is a person who is the chosen wielder of the Keyblade. There is a boy; he is to be the chosen master. He knows nothing of this. In about eight years, he will gain control of the Keyblade and be set out on a dangerous quest to stop the Darkness from spreading, just as all the wielders did before him. His name is Sora, he lives on the island on which you just moved to." I eyes widened. "From the time he gets the Keyblade, the Age of Prophecies starts. Visions were sent to Xemnas telling him what would happen. At some time during the end of the first year of the Age, Sora will shortly turn to Darkness, but not in that way, I think. Since he is a strong-hearted person, not only does he turn into a Heartless, but also a Nobody is formed. The Nobody is a completely different person. At the time that Sora is a Heartless, another person turned to Darkness and a Nobody was also created. But this other person wasn't made like other Nobodies, so her Nobody was different too. Both Sora and this other person, your sister's Nobodies became the powerful kind of Nobodies. Sora's is Roxas, your sister's is Naminé."

My eyes were bulging out of my head by now. "My sister turns to Darkness?"

"Yes, but not like you think. I think that Sora turned to Darkness in order to save your sister. And to return that, your sister did the same but got to save herself somehow. Roxas and Naminé don't remember anything from their past life because they were in Darkness for such a short while. They are the only members whose others are still in human form. Oh man, I totally forgot!"

"What?"

"To explain why they are here so early, I told you that Xemnas saw visions of what _would_ happen. Ok…so…since Xemnas saw these visions, he was able to bring the Organization together early. I don't know how, but he used the original six members, including himself, to somehow bring everyone here, even though they may not even have turned to Darkness yet. Ok, Xemnas made it so that everyone who wasn't twenty at the time he created the Organization could keep their age. Everyone who was younger had to basically start over. Demyx, Larxene, Roxas, and I had to start living again. We age just like humans. But not until the Age of Prophecies starts can the older members age anymore. They don't gain any maturity but the younger ones do. The Organization started, and I was with the life of a three-year-old. Demyx and Larxene were both as two-year-olds and Roxas as just a newborn. Naminé was also just a newborn. She is just a few months younger than Roxas and Sora. She is the same age as your sister and a few minutes older than you because you are the younger twin and she is your sister's Nobody. And because we have to gain maturity all over again, we technically lost all of our memories; Larxene, Demyx, and I. We don't remember anything at all. Xemnas says that as we age we may be able to remember some things, but not enough to be like the older members. Do you understand so far?"

I nodded actually getting this pretty well.

"Ok, Roxas can wield the Keyblades because he is Sora's other, his Nobody. And well, let's see…so Sora and your sister…Kairi, isn't it?…" I nodded. "…their hearts will become connected I suppose, and they will live inside each other somehow. But see you are living inside of Kairi right now. So you can wield the Keyblades as well. Because of what _is to happen_. You share a heart with Kairi and Kairi's heart lives inside Sora's. Your hearts are shared because of what happened when Saïx took you. Your hearts split and joined," he said pointing to the necklace around my neck. "Half of you, Darkness, lives in Kairi now, and half of her, Light, lives inside of you."

I brought my hand of to the gem and stroked it with my fingers for a moment trying to think of my sister.

"Here is the important thing, you can see your sister." My sad eyes shot up with happiness filling them. "But not how you wish…" my eyes fell again. "…hey, but it might be ok. I'm sure you'll like this better than nothing." I looked up with a curious eye. "Since you have half of her heart, you can see what's going on in her life. At times, you will be within side her, seeing what she is doing. You can see, touch, taste, hear, smell, and feel everything that she can. You will have her feelings, her thoughts, and her emotions inside of you. This will happen especially when something important is happening in her life. Sometimes, her memories will flood your mind too." I smiled. "But, just to let you know, she can't do the same. She doesn't see the Darkness that takes up half of her heart. You see the Light half of hers, which is why you can do this."

"Will I ever see her again?" I asked.

"I don't know, I sure hope so, for your sake. Now, I have one more thing to say I think. You will always be part human. But as time goes one, you will lose more and more of your human like aspects: taste, emotion, love. And, like Xemnas said, you can keep your true name, but he will sometimes address you as Xarene, ok?"

"Ok."

"Ok, and I guess I should explain this too. The Organization wants to be human again. Well, at least the older members because they remember the ones they loved and their past lives. They want that back. They can become human, but there is only one way. That is for the Keyblade to destroy Heartless. Every Heartless has a heart-like embodiment inside of them. When the Keyblade destroys a Heartless, that heart travels to a place called Kingdom Hearts. Kingdom Hearts is the place where Darkness is originated. Where everyone is born. _Everyone._ Everyone is born in Darkness. The Organization is trying to collect enough hearts to become whole again. Because of this, you are here."

"_Why_ am I here?"

"Because you and your sister were to live on the same island as the Keyblade wielder, the Organization had to stop you. They had to stop you from destroying the Darkness. The Darkness had to reach the island so that Sora could gain the Keyblade and start his quest. If you stayed there, you would have changed to Light completely. And along with your sister's Light-filled heart, you both would have destroyed the Darkness. The Organization's quest would have been destroyed. That is the reason that you were brought here."

I sat there, quiet, trying to grasp everything he had just said. "Anything else?"

"Yes, one more. You can't tell Roxas about Sora."

"Why not?"

"Because he would leave, he would bring destruction to the Organization, we fear. He cannot know of why he can wield the Keyblades, why you can, why you are here, or anything. Everyone already knows, just not him. Naminé knows and she will keep it secret too. I told you earlier that she was different than other Nobodies. She has the power to alter memories. She can toy with them and replace them with other ones. She will tell Roxas by using the memories of ours that just happened and fix them so Roxas can see them. We need to get moving. Do you understand everything, anything I need to clear up?"

"No, actually you are really good at explaining things. For a nine-year-old, you sure to know how to explain," I said.

"Me? No, I think you just have a wide span of understanding. I think you get everything because you are very mature for your age," he replied smiling.

"Me? Mature? Well, I guess, maybe you just aren't mature _enough_ and that is why I am understanding everything you are saying so easily. Maybe that is why we are getting along so well," I said smiling too.

"Maybe…"

"Maybe…so…where is this Naminé person?"

Just then the door opened and Roxas came through followed by a girl. She walked up to me. "Raene, this is Naminé," said Axel standing behind me. Roxas stood behind the girl and watched. I looked at her. She was beautiful. She had light blonde hair that reached past her shoulders and hung to one side with long bangs that skimmed the top of her eyes just barely. Her eyes were the same color as mine too, just like Roxas' and Kairi's, but they seamed slightly glazed over with a cloudy blue color. I looked at them carefully and then began to cry. I didn't fall into anyone's chest this time. This time, I just stood there and let the tears fall.

"What did I do?" asked a sweet, high-pitched, angelic voice. No one answered. I closed my eyes, squeezing the tears out. Then I felt myself being embraced by someone. "Shhh, it's ok, everything is going to be ok," said the same beautiful voice. I hugged her back. She gave the same kinds of hugs as my sister. Thin arms wrapped around a thin body. She smelled good and squeezed me just like my sister did. After a moment, I stood up and whipped the tears away from my cheeks.

"It's ok, it's just that…you look so much like her," I said looking back at the familiar eyes that seamed perfectly enhanced in color by the dark eyelashes that also seamed familiar. Kairi and I both had those same dark eyelashes that stood out to our pale complexion. I looked the girl over. She was wearing a thin-strapped white dress that came half way down her thigh with a zigzag cut hem.

"Raene, let's go for a walk," Axel said. I nodded.

"Wait! You said you would tell me the story, don't just let me sit here and wonder!" Roxas objected just as he did before.

"Naminé, tell Roxas what happened, use your powers to see what happened," Axel said turning to Naminé who was sitting herself down in one of the chairs at the table. Axel winked to let her know to leave out some stuff. She nodded and gestured for Roxas to sit down too. Roxas had not seen the wink Axel had given. He sighed then walked to the other side of the table.

"I guess I can trust you then," Axel said as he closed the door behind him as the two of us started to walk down the hall.

"What do you mean _then_?" I asked.

"Xemnas said you might be a hard one to trust."

"Wouldn't you trust me any way? I thought everyone trusted everyone."

"Who told you that?"

"I was raised that way. Everyone in my kingdom trusted everyone else. Especially my sister and I, but then again, why wouldn't you trust the young heirs to the thrown who were to keep the country out of trouble in the future?"

"Princesses?! You're a _princess_?!"

"Oh yeah, I guess I forgot to tell you. My father was King of our world. He ruled everything. Well…until he died a year ago. His friend became the King until my sister and I became of age. I'm not really sure what that age is, but it's not later than 18, I'm sure. He lived in the castle since he was a kid and was raised just like a prince along with my father, heir to the thrown. His parents died when he was a kid, so he was entitled to live there since my grandparents were his godparents. He was given the whole basement to live in. He kept to him self a lot. My sister and I never saw much of him either. He just studied a lot and just gave orders from his lab when they were needed. When our home was taken over a while ago, he said that we had to leave. He said it was for our safety. We left just in time, just before the world was completely taken into Darkness."

"I just can't believe you were a _princess_."

"I still _am_ a princess." Axel held back a look. He wanted to tell me something, but he didn't feel that I could take it right now, not after all that I had gone through today. "The world was called Radiant Gardens. It was so beautiful. There were flowers, waterfalls, mountains, smiles on everyone's faces, clear blue skies, I loved it there. Now, it's probably gone forever though. I remember the last day I was happy there. My sister and I shared a huge room on the top floor. From there, we could see our whole kingdom. Everything that one day, we would rule. All the land and towers and castles that spread on forever. One night, there was a storm. Usually there are never any thunderstorms in our home, but occasionally there are. It was quiet though, and I was sleeping. All of a sudden, I hear terrible sounds…crashes…yells…crying…coming from down stairs; I have very acute hearing. I took the lift down to the main hall and…well…that was the last time I saw my father alive."

"I'm sorry…"

"It's ok…now…where were we?"

"I said that Xemnas was worried about trusting you."

"Right. Well, let's move on," I said turning to face the end of the hallway, which seamed to be quite longer than I thought, since we had been walking this whole conversation and still weren't to he end. I shivered as I made my way farther.

"Cold?" Axel asked taking off his cloak and handing it to me.

"Thanks," I replied pulling it over my head. It was big for me and it dragged the ground, but I figured I couldn't get it dirty from that because the floors were completely spotless. "I thought you said Nobodies couldn't feel, how did you know that I was cold?" I asked looking up at him. He had on tighter pants than Roxas, who had baggy black pants that covered the legging of his boots. Axel's were tight and tucked into his boots a little pass the knee. He had on a long sleeve black shirt that gripped his thin body tightly also.

"They…we can't but we understand them, the feelings. See Nobodies can speak, hear, and see. But they can't taste, smell, or feel. If someone were to put their hand on your back, we couldn't really feel it like humans, but we sort of sense it. It's just this feeling. And we sense people behind us better than humans do. We know what some feelings and emotions are like, but we don't have them. Cold, heat, we understand those, but can't feel it. We know anger and happiness, and sadness. I guess you can say we have those."

"What about love, you said that Nobodies lose that."

"I'm not sure. I guess we could. The older members love people from their past lives. The rest of us don't remember them so I'm not so sure. I guess we could."

"How old were you when you…well…turned to Darkness?"

"Eighteen."

"Eighteen, it must stink to not remember anything."

"Not really." He smiled and looked forward again. It was quiet for a few minutes as we walked through the castle. He occasionally pointed out rooms like the members' private quarters and rooms like the library or a sitting area. "Ok, now Raene, I need to tell you about the castle. The castle has a main entrance. We use that one, but do keep in mind that we can teleport. But anyhow, there are also other entrances. Only some members know about them. Some parts of the castles that have different entrances are not connected at all to the part of the castle we are in. No doors or hallways lead to them. The only way to get there is to teleport there. But the problem with teleporting is that you have to know where you want to go. If I wanted to go to a part of the castle that isn't part of the main living quarters, I have to know it; I have to have seen it before; by someone taking me there. I can't just go anywhere at anytime. It's kind of difficult to explain."

"I think I understand."

"Ok, I want to show you a place. I like to come here a lot to just relax," Axel said grabbing my hand and pulling me into a portal. I arrived at an open tower balcony outside. I was at one of the highest places in the castle. It was dark and cold outside. A large heart-shaped moon was shiny brightly in front of me. It was so big that I thought it was just a few feet away.

"Wow, it's beautiful," I said walking over to the ledge and looking over the side. "Why is it still nighttime? I thought it would be morning by now. It's still dark."

"It's always dark here. The moon right there isn't a real moon. That's Xemnas' Kingdom Hearts. It is the only natural light in this world. There is no sun. It is morning, I'd say about seven perhaps."

"How big is this world, it seams to go on forever?" I asked looking back at Axel.

"It's the biggest world in the universe. It does go on forever I guess. You said that you lived in Radiant Garden, which is supposed to be one of the biggest; this world is like a hundred times bigger. It is so big that in some places the ground is also in the sky."

"In the sky? Do any people live in this world?"

"I think so, just a few. They keep to themselves. There are lights in the buildings, and you see them from time to time. But they stay indoors a lot."

"Oh, so what is this place? I asked completely turning around and beckoning to the tower we two were standing on."

"Well, you see that big window over there?" Axel said pointing to a large window on a tower on the opposite side of the castle. I nodded. "Well, that's Naminé's room. We are in a part of the castle that isn't connected. Down those stairs is Xemnas' private quarters," he said turning me by the shoulders to see the top of a staircase heading down the tower. "We aren't allowed there. Nobodies guard it. I was shown here when I was young, this tower it's just a great place to come here and think, isn't it?"

"Does anyone know what is in side his quarters?"

"Nope, just Xemnas. Hey are you hungry?" He asked turning to look at me changing the subject. I nodded just realizing that I hadn't eaten in a long time. "Good, let's go to another world." I nodded letting him lead me into another portal.

"Let's get you some new clothes," he said opening a closet back inside the castle. He pulled out some baggy black pants, a long sleeve black shirt, a pair of cloves, a pair of boots, and a long cloak. He then placed the clothes in my arms. He snapped his fingers and the white dress with a blue hem and blue slip-on shoes that I was wearing disappeared and were replaced by new clothes. The black cloak and all still remained in my arms. I was now wearing white pants that had several large pockets all over them and chains stringing from pocket to pocket. I had on a long sleeve light blue t-shirt and dark blue tennis shoes that were very comfortable that were built for speed. I looked down at my new outfit and smiled. "I figured you liked blue, and it's cold around here so I thought you would like warmer clothes," Axel said, "Since you are still human, you can have individual clothes."

"I love it!" I squeaked. "But what about these?" I asked gesturing to the clothes in my arms.

"Go in through that door and change to those and bring back out the clothes you are wearing," he answered pointing to a door behind me. I came out after a moment dressed to the best of your ability in the new monochrome outfit. Axel circled me and made sure that everything fit nicely. He bent down and adjusted the zipper of my cloak and made sure the small silver chain at the neck of the cloak was fit then snapped his fingers. The black clothes disappeared and I became dressed in the white pants and blue shirt once more. He then snapped again and I found yourself dressed in the cloak once more with the other outfit completely gone. "You can change whenever you want now. Just think about it and you can do it," Axel said closing the closet door and leading me to the castle's main entrance.

The two of us walked slowly down the streets of this dark world. It was cloudy now and it felt like it was going to rain soon. For some reason I hoped it would. "Wait, I forgot Roxas, I'll be right back," Axel said about to jump into a portal.

"Wait, what about me?"

"You'll be fine. Nothing is gonna happen." And with that, he disappeared.

--------------------------------

"What do you want Xemnas? I saw you from down there, why are the rest of the members here too?" Axel said appearing on the roof of a building above Raene on the ground.

"It's time for Raene's first test," Xemnas replied. "She will have to call upon the Keyblades to defeat the Heartless."

"No! You can't call upon Heartless, she's not ready."

"Why not?"

"She won't be able to pull herself to fight the creatures that killed her father."

"She'll be fine," Xemnas said before snapping his fingers. Everyone watched as Raene jumped up from the curb.

"Axel! Roxas! Help!" Raene said as dozens of Shadow Heartless made their way closer to the helpless girl. She thought back to what Axel had said. She could wield the Keyblades. She thought desperately as she tried to make them appear in her hands. Suddenly, two Keyblades appeared. A black one appeared in her left hand a white one in her right. They were identical. The black one had a white charm on the end and the white had a black charm. She slowly began to swing at the monsters. Slowly making them vanish and for a small pink heart to travel up to the sky.

She managed to kill the ones in front of her without being attacked. She then sensed a Heartless running at her from behind. She thought quickly and jumped. But it wasn't just any jump; she did a back flip just as the Heartless ran underneath her. As she landed she sliced its back with the white Keyblade and then spun around. She started attacking again, getting faster at swinging by the kill. There were just a few left within a matter of minutes. The last remaining creatures slowly crawled towards the tired girl. All of a sudden, she pointed both Keyblades at an angle towards the Heartless. A large light extended out of the end of both Keyblades and joined in the middle. The light now became brighter and brighter until it shot out at the Heartless. Raene and the members were temporarily blinded as a huge explosion of light erupted in front of them. The light soon faded to reveal a group of hearts traveling up to the sky.

Axel then grabbed Roxas and pulled him through a portal and down to the ground. "Raene, that was amazing!" He shouted running up to her from behind. She slowly turned to face them.

"What was that? That thing I just did." She asked looking at her weapons.

"The power of the Twin Keyblades. Together they can create an attack more powerful then any other Keyblades put together."

"Wow," she simply said doing it again. The light shot out at Axel and Roxas. Axel quickly summoned his weapons and placed them in front of both Roxas and himself.

"Sorry," she apologized while smiling shyly. "What are those?" She asked pointing at the two circular spiky weapons in Axel's hands.

"It's called a chakram," Roxas said stepping out from his brotherly figure, Axel.

"Just be careful," Axel said. She nodded.

--------------------------

Axel then opened a portal and the three of us stepped in it appearing in a town square. "Welcome to Traverse Town. This is the world where survivors of world destructions end up," Axel said. He led me over to a café and me ordered a small meal. I finished quickly. As the three of us were getting up, I noticed a familiar someone across the town square. I ran over to him and threw my arms around his body.

"Squall! I can't believe it's you! I thought I would never see you again!" I squealed burring my face into his stomach. The young teenager threw his arms up in surprise and looked back at his friends standing behind him. An older man with blonde hair that spiked up in the middle can over first. Followed by another young teenage boy with crazy spikes of blonde hair and two young teenage girls. One had long brown hair that was perfectly braided down her back and a short pink dress and the other one had short jet-black hair and was wearing black shorts and a tight grey belly shirt with the coolest looking shoes I had ever seen before.

"Who are you?" The boy asked prying my excited self's arms from around his waist.

"What are you talking about? It's me Raene, Princess Raene. I've known you since birth, Squall."

"Princess Raene? No, I know a Princess _Kairi_, but not a _Raene_."

I stumbled back in disappointment. "Cid, you remember me, right? Cloud? Aerith? Yuffie? You guys remember me, don't tell me you don't remember me too."

"Sorry, kid. Maybe you're mistaken." Cid said stepping beside his brunette friend.

"Wait, if she were mistaken, how did she know all of our names, then?" Cloud said questioning them.

But before either of the other males could argue someone else jumped in. "Raene, there you are. What did I tell you about running off like that?" Axel said grabbing hold of my arm and pulling me towards him. "Sorry, you guys. My sister mistakes a lot of people for someone else."

As he pulled me back to Roxas I angrily stopped him and questioned him. "What are you doing?! I know those people. They lived in my castle back in my hometown. I've known them since I was born. Cid was mad dad's private pilot and mechanic. The rest of them used to hang around with my sister and I. I haven't seen them since my dad died."

"Raene, listen to me. They don't remember you," Axel said grabbing hold of my shoulders to steady me once more.

"Wha…wha…what?" I asked, my voice choking up with sadness.

"They don't remember you. No one does. Everyone from your life before you were taken has forgotten everything about you."

"That's not true. That's not possible!" I shouted in denial.

"Yes, it is. I told you that Naminé can alter memories. She's not has gifted at it though. In the future she will be able to replace memories with other fake ones. But for now, all she can do is totally or partially erase them. She took away any moment that had you in it and took it away forever since there were so many memories of you."

I started to cry. Tears slowly fell down my cheeks. Roxas put a hand on my back to comfort me but it didn't seam to do anything to help. "How…how can that be? My sister…doesn't remember me…at all?" I choked out between short raspy sobs.

"I'm so sorry, Raene. I should have told you earlier that that happened, but I didn't want you to be so overwhelmed with changes all at once," he said smiling, trying to make me feel better.

"Will they ever remember me?" I asked calming down.

"No," he said being truthful. "Since you spent most of your time with your sister, she probably doesn't remember anything about her life in her hometown at all. Those others probably can because they didn't spend all their time with you. But your sister and you were barely ever separated, right?"

"Yes."

"I'm so sorry, Raene," Axel said pulling me into a brotherly hug, Roxas joined behind me and wrapped his arms around the two of us. "Don't get too upset. You didn't lose your family. You gained one; Roxas and I. We'll never let anything happen to you, I promise."

**-----------------------------**

**Ok, hope you guys like that one. Like I said, sorry it took so long to read. But I wanted to get the first of the flashbacks over with and on with the present. R/R please. Thank you! )**


	3. The Promise

**Hey everybody! Hope you like number 3!**

**--------------------------**

"I give up," I sighed. Axel and I were walking down one of the cobble stoned, hilly roads of a quiet town on a nice summer day.

"I've never known you to give up before," he replied smiling his cocky smirk.

"We've been walking around this stupid town in hundred degree weather for…" a loud bell sounded in the distance, "…three hours, now," I said hanging my head. "I mean we're wearing black. And not just any black; leather! How do you Nobodies stand all black?"

"Can't feel, do you remember? Or have the last nine years of living with us just past by without you understanding anything?" Axel asked sarcastically.

"Shut up, so where are we supposed to be going?" I said punching him in the arm.

"According to this flier, we are supposed to be going to the…Sandlot…" he answered reading a large flier I had pulled off one of the stonewalls several hours ago.

"Let's see, we started at the mansion. Then we went to the beach; I figured sand and beach went together. Then we looked around all the other town stations and now we're back where we started. And we still have no idea where this tournament is being held." I said counting off the places Axel and I had tried on my fingers.

"Ok, then. Why doesn't the all-powerful Raene conjure up a way to get there?" He said waving his arms around above his head in a mystical way. "The tournament is gonna start soon. Oh, and just so you know, I told you that it was a good idea to come to this world early," he said smiling his pearly whites at me when he proved the point that he was right.

"Fine." I stopped dead in front of a shop stand and shot my right arm inside the window. My hand grabbed hold of something and pulled it out and over the counter. "Where is the sandlot?" I asked the scared, young man with a stern but nice tone in my voice without even looking at his face.

He simply pointed down one of the allies then turned his hand and pointed in a different direction. I smiled then threw him back over the counter.

"Let's go, Axel!" I said running off the down the ally. "It's been far to long since we've seen him."

Axel and I ran down a flight of stairs until I saw a huge crowd of people gathered around a large open area surrounded by tall buildings. "Wait! We can't be seen," Axel said as I was about to run out into the crowd. He wrapped an arm around my waist to stop me. "Come on, we can wait over there," he said pulling me into a portal until we arrived behind a wooden stand off to the side of the raised stage.

"Do you see him?" I asked trying to get a better look.

"No. No. Wait yes, over there," he said pointing over onto the stage.

"I can't believe it. It's really him. After all this time, it's really him," I said controlling myself from running up to him. It had been almost a year since I had seen my best friend, Roxas. He still looked exactly the same minus the normal teenage clothes. He hadn't grown any taller since the last time I saw him. He was always a few years taller than he should be. Now he was the perfect height.

-----------------------

It was a stormy night. The cloudy skies were filling with rain as he and I spoke our parting words. "Why do you have to leave?" I asked. I tried to sound brave that he was leaving but sadness choked at my voice.

"I told you I have to go. I have to know the truth," he replied sternly but gently as he kept his back to me.

"Then just let me tell you. I know the whole story. Just ask me, I'll tell you everything. You won't have to leave. Leave Naminé, leave me, leave Axel, leave EVERYONE WHO CARES ABOUT YOU!" I said just a sternly as he did, getting angrier and angrier that he wouldn't let me just explain.

"You had your chance to tell me. You had more than eight years to share everything with me, your best friend. Now it's too late and I have to figure it out on my own."

"Please…Roxas…you can't leave. If you do, something bad will happen. I just know it."

He turned to face me and took a step closer. "Tell me this, who am I looking for?"

I bit my lip and hung my head. "He lived on the island that my sister lives on. His name is Sora. I wanted to tell you everything, all the knowledge I knew about him, but I was forced not to tell."

"Axel and Naminé lied to me also."

"They didn't lie, they just didn't say everything they wished they could."

"Tell me more about…Sora."

"He looks like you; blue eyes just like yours and mine with spiky brown hair. He's your other. You…you would have been born a few months ago, Roxas. He became a Heartless to save the person he loves. That person gave up her heart to bring him back. She never had Darkness in her heart, so that is why her Nobody is different."

"Naminé."

"Yes."

"Your sister is Naminé's other, right? What do the prophecies say will happen to Naminé and I?"

"There are some prophecies that are different and can be altered; they don't have to come true. One of those say that either you or Sora will fall and complete the other, making that other whole."

"Does that mean that there is a chance that this Sora kid will someday make me human?"

"Maybe, but we still don't know about Naminé. She could stay like this forever and not have to become whole or put together. We don't know. Xemnas hasn't seen anything yet."

"Xemnas. He told me that the Keyblade chose me for a reason. I have to know."

"It chose you because Sora is the Keybearer. Anyone whose heart is connected to him can wield them," I said taking a step closer to him.

"It's not enough, I have to know the truth. I want to do it by myself."

"Roxas. I'm scared for you. What if something bad happens? What if I never see you again?" I asked hanging my head again. I stood silent for a moment keeping tears from coming out.

"Raene." He spoke. "I'll be fine."

"How do you know?" I argued falling into his arms.

"Just think of me everyday, ok? I'll be safe as long as you, Naminé, and Axel are thinking of me. Maybe I can find Naminé too." He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into a tight squeeze. "We'll meet again. Besides, we're both Nobodies; in the end our paths will meet in the next life. Not that we know what's there or not." He said pressing his face into my neck.

"I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too," he said pulling away and turning to walk farther down the dark street.

"Wait! Roxas!" He stopped and waited for me to continue. "Axel knows that you aren't gonna change your mind, but he wanted to talk with you one more time. He'll be waiting up ahead. Please, Roxas…don't get angry with him. He just cares about you."

He stepped forward and pulled me quickly into his arms for one last hug, burying his face once more into my neck. "Ok."

"You promise we'll meet again?" I asked placing my cheek against his soft blonde hair, breathing in his sweet smell one last time.

"I promise," he said raising his head and kissing me softly on the lips. And then, in a flash, he was gone and around the corner.

That night was all too familiar to another night nine earlier. In both nights I lost someone close to me. In both nights, the storms' lightning reflected into identical eyes as two people said how much they cared for each other. And in both nights, the other side had taken them away. With your sister, the Darkness pulled you with them. With Roxas, the truth of the Light pulled him to leave.

-------------------------

The black street slowly faded back to the loud crowd around me. "Roxas…you promised…" I whispered trying to be quiet so no one would hear me, but Axel had.

"What?" He said turning to me.

"Nothing, it's just that…Roxas promised that we would see each other again. And now, well, he's forgotten all about us. It's just not the same."

"He hasn't forgotten about us."

"That's what Naminé said."

He just rolled his eyes and watched as two blonde teenage boys got into fighting position. "The first match will be between Roxas and his best friend, Hayner!" Yelled a loud announcer voice.

"Best friends? But, we are best friends…" both Axel and I said quietly at the same time.

"Weird weapons, and only one?" Axel said motioning to the now fighting friends on stage.

"So, what's the big deal with only one?" I asked turning to Axel who kept his eyes off me.

"Well it's just that he hasn't used one sword since…well…since you came here."

"Me?"

"Yeah. When he found out that you could wield two Keyblades just like him, he knew you were gonna be good. So, he decided to start his training with two early."

"What? Was he scared that some little girl was gonna beat him?"

"Yeah."

"Oh…" I said turning back to watch my friend. "He isn't very good, is he?"

"Well, Naminé said that when he got here, it would be kinda like starting over for some reason."

"You don't believe her, do you?"

"Nope," he simply replied smiling as the boy named Hayner fell to the ground in defeat.

Several minutes went by and Axel and I sat quietly waiting for the opportune moment to act. Finally Axel spoke up, "Ok, Raene. Stay here and when I give the signal, summon Dusks. It's time to start testing him."

"Are you sure?" I asked. He smiled and disappeared through a portal to the other side of the crowd. After a few minutes everything stopped. Time seamed to halt around me. The only mobile things were Axel, Roxas, Roxas' current opponent, and myself. That was the signal. I summoned up a small group of Dusks and teleported myself over to Axel's side.

"So, what's the plan? He's destroyed plenty of these so far, I'm sure. They're too simple," I asked tugging on Axel sleeve.

"YOU wanna bring him back?" He asked not even bothering to stop my annoying tugging.

"What?! Me!? No! I…I can't." I stopped the tugging but kept a firm grip on his black sleeve.

"Why not?"

"I'll…I'll hurt him. I can't do that. I just can't pull myself to the risk of hurting him," I managed to stutter out.

"Hmph. Hearts can be so complicated when it comes to life," he spoke grabbing hold of my hand at lightning speed. "Put your hood up. He hasn't noticed us yet, but I want this to go as smoothly as possible," he said dropping my hand and pulling his own hood on over his spikes.

The last Dusk disappeared. Roxas looked around. Everything was still frozen. I backed up to the wall hidden slightly. The same question kept playing through my mind, 'what if Axel hurt Roxas?'

Axel started clapping sarcastically. Roxas spun around as Axel stepped forward. "Roxas. All right. Fight fight fight." Roxas didn't say anything. Axel noticed now that Roxas wasn't remembering him right now.

"Come on, Roxas. Don't you even recognize me? It's me, you know, Axel." He said in his cocky voice as he pulled the hood off of his head revealing his face.

"Axel?" he asked. His voice still as curious and warm as ever.

"I just can't believe it. I thought you would come to see that we're just here to help you."

"_We_? Oh, you mean your little friend over there," Roxas said gesturing over to me in the shade. "She your sister or something?"

"Why would you think we were siblings?" Axel asked raising an eyebrow.

"You have the same hair." Axel turned to look at me. My hood was still covering my face, but a few thin strands of fiery hair blew out in the wind.

"No. Just a friend. So…you remember us, or not?" He asked turning back to Roxas and summoning his fiery weapons.

"Wait! Who are you? What are you doing here?" Roxas demanded.

"Heh…I don't have time to do that. You see, we're being observed so we have to kinda hurry this up a bit. So either just come with us or let me knock ya out, then let me drag you back."

Roxas backed away as Axel began to swing his weapons around. Fear was plastered across his angel-like face. All of a sudden the air started to swirl around them. The contents of this world were being tampered with. "Uh-oh!" Axel harshly whispered. We had to really hurry this up now.

When the air settled once more, anger and confusion erupted through Roxas. "What's going ON!?" He yelled throwing his Keyblade at the ground by Axel. But that did no good. The Keyblade reappeared again in his hand.

"Number 13. Roxas. The Keyblade's chosen one. Now you see, Roxas. I've come here to save you from your fate. I don't care if it's not supposed to work, I can at least try. Now, see, I was gonna let Xarene, or, maybe you remember her as Raene, fight you, but there is a complication with her. See, with Raene, she has a heart. And someone like Raene with such a pure heart can't pull themselves, no matter how strong they may be, to fight their best friend."

"Best friend!?" And with that they started to fight. I backed off into the wall farther.

For someone who had to basically start over with fighting skills, Roxas was pretty good. He blocked some of the attacks that Axel threw. And got a few good hits on him as well. I actually felt relieved that he was doing so well and didn't feel so scared.

That is, until Axel went mad with trying to accomplish his task; the task to bring Roxas back with him. Axel jumped in the air and made huge waves of fire fly toward Roxas. He had no time to block. The scream shattered through the quiet atmosphere like a gunshot in the night. Roxas fell to the ground. He got up and continued to fight though, which showed me that he was still the same strong willed boy you were raised with. But the huge attacks from Axel didn't stop. He continued attack after attack. My heart skipped a beat every time my friend screamed out in painful agony. I wanted nothing more than to go to his side, but I knew that he had to come with us. Just as Axel was about to throw another attack someone appeared on the opposite side of the stage of Axel. Roxas was in the middle and I moved out from behind Axel to see who had come to watch.

The man was tall and had orange eyes. _Those eyes, where had you seen them before?_ I shook the thought out of my mind. His face was covered all but his right eye. He wore a dark read cape that flowed behind him and covered his head and the rest of his face. Black and brown leather streamed all around him making him all the more bizarre. As much as I didn't want to, I knew who the man was somewhat—he was working on taking Roxas away—and I knew why he was here.

"You…I knew it was you. You're not taking him away again!" Axel yelled throwing his chakrams at the man. They bounced off an invisible shield surrounding him.

"Xarene…why are you with this boy? You should be with us…the person closest to you internally and the boy who could let you see _her_ again. Instead of with these two," he said in his deep voice.

"How could I be with you? You're the one who took my best friend away! No matter what could happen if I joined you, I would never be as happy as I am with Axel," I said back to him.

He laughed. "Roxas don't listen to this man. All of what he speaks is lies," he said turning to Roxas.

"No, Roxas! Don't listen to him! He's only trying to take you away from me again!" Axel said. Both males started calling out Roxas' name repeatedly. Roxas started calling out his new friends' names begging for the madness to end. The fear spreading through him affected me to the point where I couldn't watch any more. I slowly backed away and down the street silently saying good-bye once more to the boy I promised myself I would one day see again—even if he would never remember me again.

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**Ok, so how'd you guys like number 3? Huh? Huh? Yeah, it's kinda short but I'm tired and I thought it was a good place to end. R/R please. )**


	4. Remembering

Hey guys! Number 4! Yeah it's kinda short… 

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I ran away from the Sandlot as fast as I could as I tried to remember all of the places Axel and I had seen earlier that day. I wanted to find a place to just sit and be alone.

Up ahead, there was a building with some steps and boxes that gave easy access to the roof. I jumped up to the top and looked around the other side of the building. Below was a small alley that was easily hidden from the rest of the shopping center I was in.

I jumped down and sat in the far corner. I pulled my knees up to me chest and wrapped my arms around them. I sighed as I placed my chin on my knees and tried to picture old memories to make me feel better. But all that kept coming to my mind were the memories of when Roxas left. And the memories of how everything changed after he left.

Five members had been eliminated shortly before Roxas left. No one else seamed to care that Roxas was no longer with us. In fact, they are the ones who sent Heartless and Nobodies out to destroy him. They thought he was a traitor like Marluxia for leaving to go to the real worlds in seek of the truth, even though it was one of the members who gave knowledge to Roxas about the truth.

Thoughts of Axel having to deal with Roxas' absence flashed through my mind. For months he would sit by himself and not talk to anyone. He accepted no missions, never went to meetings, and never let me talk to him and try to make him feel better.

"Raene! Raene, where are you?" A voice called out from somewhere outside your hiding place.

'Darn, the found me,' I thought to myself. All of a sudden, Axel came around the corner and came up to me.

"Hey, are you ok?" He asked kneeling down next to me.

"Yeah…I'm…fine," I replied raising my head off of my knees.

"Good. Hey why don't you go get some food? You'll need some for the journey."

"Journey?"

"Yeah. We need to get going. We can't go back to the Organization right away. Well, at least not you. I need you to stay here."

"Then, why do I need food? And why do you keep saying that _we_ need to get going?"

"I have to go back to the headquarters. I need you to stay here. Maybe you could go and see Naminé up at the mansion. He should be at the real one, so I think you are fine to go to where she is."

"Why do you get to go back?"

"Xemnas has something for me to do. Just stay in this town. And please don't go to the real world please."

"Fine. So, what am I doing?"

"Go get some food. Then come back here and say good-bye. Then, I don't know, just go find Naminé or something."

"Whatever…" I said standing up. I concentrated and my clothes changed. I couldn't be seen walking around dressed like this. My black boots changed to light blue shoes that reached half way up my lower leg. (Just like Kairi's in KH2). They had black and white ribbons lacing up the leg somewhat. The long black cloak disappeared and so did the long sleeve black shirt and pants. In their places, was a pair of short white shorts with two large pockets on the front and two in the back. My black shirt changed to a light blue shirt. It had a small V-neck dip in the front and the bottom came up revealing my belly button. The sleeves were sort of long but were cut loosely so they didn't fit on the arms. They hung slightly off and flew to the side when the wind blew. The same necklace I had had since I was a baby hung around my neck along with a tight black ribbon choker. I smiled at the sudden change in to lighter clothes and stocked off to the ice cream store.

------------------------

"Axel?" A small, high-pitched, angelic voice sounded.

Axel spun around to see Naminé standing in the corner behind him. "What are you doing here?" He asked with a straight face.

"Axel, I know you aren't happy with what I do. But I promised Sora I would give him back his memories."

"But you promised Roxas you would keep him safe. Don't you remember? Ever since we were little, we always promised to keep each other safe."

"I know, but you have to understand, Roxas won't be gone. He'll still be there. Just not the way we wish."

"You're killing him, Naminé!"

"He'll be whole. You'll come to see that, just as he will some day."

"Have you spoken with him?" Axel asked his tone softening.

"Yes, but not much. Just yesterday. I told him that I wanted to meet him. Then just a little while after that. I helped him summon the Keyblade. Shortly after that, I pulled him out of a Darkness he could not get out of himself. I then told him my name. I asked him if he remembered his true name, but DiZ's assistant pulled him back to this town. Nothing else." Naminé finished explaining and looked up to meet the eyes of the disappointed teenager in front of her.

"How much longer is Roxas to stay like this?" He asked.

"For the past year, I have just been rearranging the pieces. That takes the most time. Once they are in the right order, I just have to emplace them into Sora. That only takes about a week."

"How much longer, Naminé?!?!"

"He's at 48 last time I saw. That was early this morning, before anyone would be awake. He has about two days left, I'm afraid."

"So, I only have two more days to tell my best friend how much I care for him. How much I miss him. How sorry I am that I didn't save him from this fate. Is that what you're saying?!?!"

"Axel…I am going to speak with him; maybe later today, maybe tomorrow. I am going to tell him more about his life, about you. Then when you speak with him, it will be easier."

"Nothing can be easy. Everything is falling apart. Why didn't I stop him? Why didn't I come and see him earlier?"

"You tried to stop him. And you couldn't have come any earlier. The gate was blocked until four days ago when Sora began to remember."

"It's not just me. What about Raene? She was always there for me. She tried to comfort me when Roxas left, but I just pushed her away. She had no one to comfort her. You were gone too. I never got to help Raene through this. Now, how is she supposed to handle the fact that Roxas is supposed to be gone forever now?"

"I'll tell her. Now, I have to go for right now. Tell Raene that I'll be back at the mansion. I need to check on Sora. Tell her stop by, and that I want to talk to her. I'll see you later, Axel." And with that she disappeared.

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"Hey, Axel, I'm back." I came out from the street and walked over to the preoccupied Axel, while licking a strange mint-blue colored popsicle.

"I just talked to Naminé. She had to go check on Sora. She says to stop by. She wants to talk to you."

"How is Sora? How's his progress?"

"48. He has two days, she thinks."

"I'm gonna miss him."

"Me too. But we'll talk to him before he has to go, I promise," he said placing a hand on my back.

"Do you promise?"

"Of course. Why?"

"Too many people make promises and never keep them."

"What do you mean?"

"My sister said that I would make friends on that island. I never did. Roxas said that we would meet again. We never did, not in the same way. He doesn't remember us."

"Not everyone can keep the promises they make. Roxas couldn't help it, and neither could your sister. Ok, now I really have to go. Why don't you head off, Ok?"

"Ok, I'll see you later, Axel." I smiled and hugged him quickly.

"Yeah, see ya later," he said as I released him and then he stepped into a portal.

----------------------

I walked through the familiar woods again to the same old mansion. I stepped in through the doors and took in the old surroundings. Right when Sora was taken to the mansion to remember his memories, I had come here with Naminé. Well, to the real mansion. Right now, I was in the one that was created. Sora was in the real world but when Roxas was to go away, he would meet up with Sora in this mansion, but Sora would awaken in the real one.

When I came here with Naminé, I would watch as she put together Sora's memories. DiZ and his assistant would observe them from a computer in the real world. I came here after Axel finally got back to being is old self. He was always so sad when Roxas left and no one was there for me. I was always trying to get him back on his feet. When he finally did, I came here to see Naminé. I watched the Sora I had seen so many times in my sister's thoughts. He looked just as I remembered. Kairi had forgotten him when he forgot her. So I didn't get to see him unless I came here. When DiZ found out that I was against his project he stopped me from coming here unless we were to join him.

I never did, so I stayed away, until Naminé could find a way to get us back here. DiZ and his assistant guarded the portals; the ones that led into the fake Twilight Town. Those were the only way to get there without going to the real Twilight Town. But, DiZ was in the real one, and wouldn't let us pass. Naminé finally found a way for us to highjack the system and come here.

I walked around the foyer for a while. Furniture was thrown everywhere. A year of having second thoughts about what you were doing could do that to a teenage girl who has been locked up for so long. I finally made my way up the stairs and into the large, white room.

The room was exactly the same as the room I first felt comfortable in nine years ago, minus the bed and a few other furnishings. Naminé was sitting at the end of the table that she always sat at. "I heard you coming," she spoke quietly. "Come, sit. I'm sure you want to talk about some thing, yes?"

I nodded and took a seat at the opposite end of the table. Just as I was about to talk, my body went still and everything around me disappeared to focus on something passing through my mind.

-------------------------------

The familiar island atmosphere came into view and the lost figure of my memories was seen walking up a small dirt path lined with large, beautiful flowers of all colors.

"Kairi! Wait up!" A small child-like voice called from behind her. Kairi turned around to greet her life long friend, Selphie. They looked the same, but different at the same time, since the last time I saw them. Kairi had grown her hair out. It was now the same length as mine. Her eyes were the same ocean color, and her baby face smile was the same. Selphie looked the same as she had, just taller.

They were both dressed in their school uniforms as they walked home. "Kairi, you wanna go to the island today. Tidus and Wakka won't come because all they care about is their stupid ball game."

Kairi kept walking. "Not today, Selphie. Sorry."

"Aw, why not?" Selphie asked as Kairi stopped a few feet ahead of her.

"Do you remember those boys who used to hang out with us?"

"Riku?"

"Yeah."

"I wonder whatever happened to him. I sure miss him."

"He's far away. But I know we'll see him again." Kairi smiled.

"Sure. Of course we will." She smiled rocking back and forth on her feet.

"And the other boy?" Kairi asked.

"What other boy?" Selphie asked. "I don't remember another boy. It was just you, Riku, Tidus, Wakka, and I. Right?"

"There was another. He was always with Riku and me all the time. We played together on that island. I used to hear his voice there, it was always there. But now, it's gone. I can't think of his face or his name. I just feel terrible. How could someone who I care so much about, just be forgotten like that? I told myself that I won't go back to that island until I remember everything about him."

"Are you sure…that you didn't make him up? What if you just imagined him?"

But before she could answer, the whole scenery was changing. I saw Roxas. He was falling. What was happening? Why was I seeing Roxas?

"Naminé…? What's happening to me?" His voiced asked, but he wasn't speaking.

"Who are you? And that's not my name. I'm Kairi." Her voice spoke from nowhere. Why was I seeing this? How were they speaking to each other?

"Kairi…I know you. You're that girl he likes."

"Who? Please…a name!"

"I'm Roxas."

"Ok, Roxas. But could you tell me his name?"

"You don't remember my name? Thanks a lot, Kairi!" The voice changed. I hadn't heard that voice in so long. How was he speaking? Was he remembering so much?

Kairi gasped.

"Ok, I guess I could give you a hint. Starts with an 'S'!"

Roxas faded away and Kairi came back into view. She was lying on the ground. Selphie bent down and helped her up. "Are you ok?"

Kairi nodded then took off in full speed to the beach. The two girls stood in the waves as the wind blew their soft hair around their faces. Kairi bent down and placed a bottle in the water and watched as the waves took it out to sea.

"I wrote a letter yesterday. It's to the boy I can't remember. I said that I would find him one day no matter how far away he is." Kairi spoke quietly. "When I stopped writing, I remembered that we made a promise, something important. This letter is where it starts. I know it."

"Wow. I hope he gets it."

"He will. Starts with an 'S'. Right? Sora?"

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And with that all the scene faded away and I found myself back in Naminé's room. "Are you ok?" She asked. "What did you see?"

"My sister," I said simply but then my words quickened, "so it is true, she doesn't remember him either? Roxas and her talked. Then Kairi remembered his name. It was on the island, then the tower. Roxas was falling…and there was a letter…and…and"

"Whoa, Raene. Calm down! You're speaking too fast. Kairi didn't remember Sora. Then Roxas was falling off the tower and was subconsciously talking to Kairi. She then remembered Sora's name. And then Kairi placed a letter in the ocean to Sora."

"Ri...right…why did you…how did you…know that? And why did you ask me if you knew?"

"I am Kairi in a way. I see things almost as you do. Well, sort of...never mind. But I just wanted to ask…just instinct, I guess."

"Right. So, yeah. How's Sora? How is everything going?"

"I just checked on him. He's at 79 now. He is gaining more and more at a time, now."

"Why?"

"I think that by putting Roxas in contact with Kairi by me, Sora was affected in a way that made him progress faster. I'm not quite sure."

"Just two days. Are you going to talk to him?"

"Yes. The students of Twilight Town have an independent study homework project due in a few days. I think that they are going to have to travel the town. The seven wonders of Twilight Town, they will have to come here for one. I'll speak to him; explain a lot, I hope. Then well, the last day; the day after tomorrow, everyone around him will forget him. DiZ'll call him here. I'll speak to him one last time."

"That's good. He needs to have it explained."

"You're upset. You want to say good-bye, don't you? You just don't know how because he doesn't remember you, right?"

I nodded.

"Well, don't worry. You'll say good-bye."

"I don't want to say good-bye. I already did that once! It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. It seamed nearly as bad as having to let go of my sister."

"He kissed you?"

"Huh?" I looked up from the shiny, white table. "Yeah, he did. I don't know why, though. It's not like he liked me or anything."

"Didn't you used to like him? Back a long time ago?"

"Yeah, back when I was like twelve. I stopped liking him long before though. He just kissed me. Why?"

"I think he was just saying good-bye. Maybe a subconscious part of him knew that he might not have a chance to say good-bye again. Not like that. Maybe he just did it because he thought he may not have another chance to in the future."

"Why would he think of that, though?"

"I don't know."

"Heh, boys…they're so complicated."

"Tell me about it! So what did Axel say? I hear that he is going back to the headquarters. I hear they have a mission for him. What did he tell you to do while he was gone?"

"He just said to hang around for a few days. He said he would be back soon."

"Well, maybe you could stay here. I could find a place for you to sleep…"

"What's wrong?!" Naminé had frozen still listening carefully for something.

"You have to leave! DiZ is in the mansion. Hurry! There is a small hotel in town. Stay there until tomorrow!" And with that she summoned a portal and shoved me through.

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The steps grew louder and louder until DiZ and his assistant burst through the door just as the portal disappeared. "Where is SHE?!?!"

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**Hey everybody! Hope you all liked this one! I'll try to have number 4 out soon. Love you all! R/R please. Thanks! D**


	5. Best Friends

Hey guys. Yes, the long awaited chapter 5! Sorry it took a while. The next one might take a while too, sorry. Anyhow, enjoy! D

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I ran through the streets looking for the hotel that Naminé had mentioned. After several minutes, I came across it. I ran up to it and ran inside the lobby towards the check-in desk. "Hi, can I have the cheapest room for one night?" I asked the tall, broad-shouldered man standing behind it.

"3000 munny," he said simply not taking his eyes off the book he was reading.

"3000!" I shouted. "The cheapest is 3000?"

"Yep, is that a problem?" he asked peering over the edge of the book.

"Sorta. Where is the nearest withdraw?" I asked annoyed with the outrageous price.

"Across the street," he said looking back down at the book.

I took off through the door and crossed the street to a small building with money signs decorating the outside. "I need to make a withdraw," I said to the old woman inside. I had millions of munny in my account, this should be no problem.

"Name?" she asked.

"Princess Rae—Kairi of Radiant Garden," I said.

She walked over to a computer and typed in something. She looked up at me and then turned the keyboard to me. "Alright, your highness. I'll need a password," she said nicely.

Password? What password? I typed in my mother's name and low and behold it worked. My father was so sad when she died that he must've made everything having to do with her. I handed the keyboard back to the lady. She looked at the screen and smiled. "Alright. Very good. How much would you like to withdraw, your highness?"

"5000, please," I replied.

She handed me a small bag of money and thanked me. I thanked her as well and ran back to the hotel. The same man was sitting at the desk reading a different book than before. I took out 3000 munny and placed it on the desktop. With the sound of coins hitting the desk he glanced up and handed me a slip of paper.

"Sign your name. Check out time is anywhere between here and tomorrow night. If you wish to stay longer, you must check in here. Thank you and have a nice day," he said handing me a key as well.

I signed the slip of paper, left it on the desk, and ran up stairs to my room. The second I got inside I took the key and slipped my black choker through the hole in the key. I then tied the choker back around my neck and changed to my Organization cloak. I then jumped on the bed and fell fast asleep.

I awoke the next morning to the sound of a train departing from the nearby station. I stood up and changed quickly to my blue and white outfit.

I decided not to go and see Naminé for a while in case DiZ was still there. What to do? I went downstairs to the lounge grabbed a to-go breakfast and headed out into the town. I roamed the streets looking for something to occupy my time. Kids ran by in the streets, nearly running into me on more than one occasion. I thought seriously about pushing them to the ground. So evil I am, I know. I voted against it and made my way to an ally.

Voices could be heard to my right. I listened carefully to see if I could recognize the voices. Immediately I sought out Roxas' voice and three others who had to belong to his friends.

"We have to do the assignment, Hayner! You promised!" I heard a feminine voice say. She sounded very annoyed. "Right, Roxas?"

"Never mind that now, Olette. Answer me this, did I fall off the station tower yesterday?" Roxas said shooing away the mention of the summer vacation assignment that was due in three days.

"Of course not! You wouldn't be here if you did, Roxas," Pence, Roxas' other friend said.

"Stop it you guys. I'm serious, what are we going to do for our topic?" Olette intruded.

I listened carefully as they continued to think of an idea for a topic. All of a sudden I heard footsteps making their way quickly towards me. I jumped off to the side as Roxas came out from their hangout. I watched as he ran off.

I followed them later as the four of them left for the station. Apparently they had decided to study the seven wonders of Twilight Town for their project and they were off to Sunset Station. The next train there wouldn't leave for a whole hour so I decided to catch the one they were getting on. It was risky to be in the same car as Roxas, but hopefully he wouldn't recognize me by my hair color.

The four of them loaded on and I followed, taking a seat as far away as possible. They didn't seam to notice me, thankfully. I watched out of the corner of my eyes as Olette pulled out a small yellow marble and held it up to the sunlight. I continued to watch as Pence and Hayner followed by pulling out a green and red marble and also held them up to the light. Roxas reached in his pocket. His face turned to a frown, as he found no blue marble on him. I knew where it was and a feeling of guilt swept over me, even though I had nothing to do with the missing friendship trinket.

The train soon arrived at the station. I waited a few minutes before following them out and into the small town. I watched from a distance as Roxas roamed the town following Pence's directions on where the seven wonders were located. After about an hour of working, the four met up and made their way once again up to the top of Sunset Hill. Here, they hoped to see the Ghost Train, which was said to have no one aboard. I laughed at the thought but followed them anyway. I hid in a bush as the four friends sat at the top of the hill looking over the fence, waiting for the train to pass by.

After about a half hour, Seifer came up and started to talk to Roxas and the others. I listened carefully as everyone started to argue. As Seifer started to walk away Olette called out his name. He just simply replied with a 'tomorrow'. Confused as I was, I didn't think much on the subject, because Roxas suddenly jumped over to the fence to see the strangely colored train heading straight for the tunnel below them.

Without notice, Roxas took off down the hill, closely followed by Hayner, Pence, and Olette. I jumped out of my hiding place and followed them to the station. It was amazing that they hadn't seen me this whole time. I arrived at the station just as Roxas was about to jump inside the Ghost Train. Hayner grabbed his arm and said, "You'll get hurt." Roxas turned to see that the train was gone!

A real train pulled up in seconds and Hayner pushed everyone in. I followed just as before and sat at the far end of the car. Within a short half-hour period, the train was back at the station. Hayner was annoyed because the whole project had been a complete rip-off. Olette tried to look on the positive side and say that they could make it sound good anyway, but Hayner wasn't buying it.

Roxas asked about the seventh wonder and Hayner stormed off down the hill. Pence simply answered before he and Olette followed Hayner, "It's at that haunted mansion."

My eyes widened. Naminé was truly a genius. She knew that she would speak to Roxas today. After a while of slowly walking behind Roxas, the two of us made it to the mansion. When I arrived at the mouth of the forest near the mansion, I teleported myself inside, making sure that Roxas didn't see.

I stood in Naminé's room dressed, now in my Organization cloak. I watched as Naminé moved the curtains and looked out at the blonde boy at the front gate.

Pence walked up to him and spoke with him before Roxas searched long and hard at the window in which Naminé was standing.

----------------------------------

Time seamed to stop for Roxas outside where he was standing, as he found himself inside Naminé's room. No one was in the room. He looked around. He paced the room admiring some of the drawings that gave color to the all white interior. He first saw a drawing of a tropical island then a drawing of a girl with short purple-red hair with a strange yellow fruit.

"Roxas…" he heard a voice call out to him. He recognized the name right away.

"Naminé?" he said turning to a drawing next to the one he was looking at. It had four people dressed in all black. One had spiky red hair and he was standing next to another that had spiky blonde hair. "That's me?" he said referring to the blonde figure. "And Axel, too?"

"You ARE best friends," Naminé spoke again. She wasn't standing anywhere, but her voice rang out from all directions. Roxas laughed. "But, Roxas…don't you want to know the truth…about who you really are?"

"No one knows me better than me," he replied.

She giggled, "Of course…"

Roxas started to walk again. He walked the length of the room to another group of drawings on the other side of the window. "But, I am a little confused with what's been happening lately," he spoke as he came to see a drawing of three people.

"You _do_ know who these three are, right, Roxas?" her voice asked again.

"Yes. They're from the dreams that I have been having lately. Sora, Donald, and Goofy," he said quietly.

"Roxas, about a year ago, some things happened."

"What kind of things?"

"I had to take apart the memories chained together in Sora's heart. But see now, I have begun to fix that. For the past year, I've been putting them back just like they were, so it's like nothing has changed for him. As I'm sure you have noticed, the process has been affecting you too, Roxas."

"The dreams?"

"Yes. Sora and you, well you're connected. For Sora to become exactly like his old self, for him to become whole, he needs you, Roxas." Roxas gazed at another drawing. This time it was of Roxas and Sora. They were side-by-side, holding hands.

"What for? Why does he need me?"

"Roxas, you are…you hold half of what Sora is. He needs you, Roxas."

Roxas said Naminé's name as the scenery somewhat changed. He was still in the same room, but now Naminé was actually there. Both of them were sitting at the table. The same as they had that day nine years ago, when Naminé had to tell him about why I were in the Organization now.

"Naminé, I don't understand. Who are you?" He asked.

"I'm a witch with power over Sora's memories. I've come to help you."

"Help me? Help me with what?"

"To help you see the things you've lost." He stared confused into her big blue eyes. "Do you remember Xarene, Roxas?"

"Axel mentioned her. He said she was my best friend, but I don't get what he means. How can she be my best friend if I don't remember her?"

Before she could answer him I appeared next to her from a portal. "Hello, Roxas," I said.

"Xarene? Or is it Raene?" he asked not moving.

"When I was young, I chose to keep my true name, Roxas. So it's Raene. I'm sorry that you are having all of this thrown on you at once. But, I want you to know the truth, I just don't know how to explain it all," I answered.

"We're best friends?"

"Yes. All of us were; you, Axel, Naminé, and I. Then you had to go, fate made you leave. I'm just glad I got to see you again. I thought I never would again."

"I guess…I should say that it's nice to see you again, too."

I laughed. "I'm sorry Roxas, but I must be going."

"Wait! Will I see you again?"

It was strange that he seamed so eager to see me again even though he didn't remember anything about me. "Just as you promised me that we would, I promise too. But this time, we won't forget each other." And with that, I disappeared.

"Naminé, what do you know about me, that I don't?" Roxas asked turning to her.

"Roxas…you…you were never supposed to exist," she said so quietly that it was hard for him to hear her angelic voice.

"What? How…how could you say that Naminé? Even if it were true…why?"

"I'm sorry. I guess some things, are just better left unsaid," she answered.

Everything went white and Roxas found himself back next to Pence outside the front gate.

-------------------------

"Naminé, I'm getting this weird feeling," I said reappearing in the white room. I took a seat where Roxas just recently was.

"What?" she asked.

"I…I feel that you're in danger. I feel that something bad is going to happen."

"No need to worry, Raene. I'll be safe."

"Promise?"

"Yes. You shouldn't worry so much about me."

"Well…I, unlike our friends most of the time, make sure my friends are safe no matter what. Well at least I try."

"I'll be fine. Now go on, I can take care of myself; I'm a big girl, Raene."

"Well, I guess so…be careful, Naminé," I said as I stepped through a portal and arrived back into my hotel room.

**----------------------**

**Yeah, I know…kinda a sucky ending, but I needed it to stop there. Next one should have Sora! Yay!!! The next one might take a while to get updated, so sorry for the wait. R/R please. D **

**Love you all!**


	6. Partings

**Hey guys! Sorry for being late with the update. This one is kinda long. **

**-----------------------------------------**

"Come now, Miss Kairi. You have been in this mansion all morning. Don't you want to go to that island you were talking about? There are plenty of other children your age who would be happy to show you around." The nice lady spoke to me from the balcony doorway. I was leaning over the railing and looking out at the beautiful island that was my new home.

"_I'm not sure. What if they don't like me?" I answered still not turning to face her._

_She walked up to me. Her graying brown hair was pulled back into a tight bun. "Of course they'll like you. Now, come on, Miss Kairi. You need to get out of this stuffy room," she said standing next to me and leaning over the railing too._

"_Alright, fine," I said. I turned; making my new dress that looked just like the one I was wearing yesterday sway in the wind. I made my way to the front door; I had been exploring the mansion all day and knew it like the back of my hand. I ran down to the beach and stopped just in time before falling right into a crashing wave. _

_I stood there in the wake, water soaking into my shoes, waiting for the lady to catch up. Eventually, she came to my side._

"_These are the boats you can take over there," she said pointing to a small collection of wooden rowboats. They were on the beach, but close to where the beach ends going inland. She dragged one over to me. "This is yours now," she said pushing it into the shallow water. "Do you know how to row?" she asked. _

"_I think so," I answered. The truth was that I couldn't remember if I knew or not. I just had the feeling that I knew. I jumped in and grabbed the oars. _

"_Now, Miss Kairi, you do know how to get back, don't you?" she asked as I started to paddle my way to the small island in the distance._

_I nodded and continued over there. Finally I got there. There were a few other rowboats like mine tied to a dock. I did the same and jumped onto the white sand. I heard voices in the distance and made my way to them. _

_There were three kids standing next to a waterfall a little ways off the beach. The only girl of the three noticed me standing there and jumped over to me with a smile on her face. "Hello, there."_

"_Hi," I said to her. She was a little younger than me and much shorter than me too. She had on a cute yellow skirt and a white t-shirt. Her hair was light brown and flipped out at the end. _

"_What's your name?" she asked._

"_Kairi."_

"_My name is Selphie. This is Tidus," she said pointing to a boy about her age. He had sandy blonde hair and light blue eyes. "And this is Wakka," she said pointing to the other boy. He was older than me by a few years. He had bright orange hair that stood up and twirled at the top. _

"_Kairi, huh? Man, you must be da girl dat Sora and Riku were talking about, ya?" Wakka asked. His accent was fun to listen to. _

"_Who are Sora and Riku?" I asked. _

"_They're the two goofballs we hang out with. Riku was talking about some girl who moved into the governor's mansion. Is that you?" Tidus said. _

"_I guess that's me. So where are these two goofballs that you are talking about?" I laughed. _

"_Sora! Riku! Get out here!" Selphie yelled towards a tree. I looked at the tree and waited. Then all of a sudden, a bush at the base of the tree moved and two boys came out. _

_They ran up to the four of us. "Kairi this is Riku," Tidus said pointing to one of the boys. He was the older of the two boys. And he looked to be a little older than me, but not as old as Wakka. He had silver hair that went past his ears a little bit. He had a pair of stunning turquoise eyes. He smiled at me._

"_And Sora," Tidus said pointing to the other boy. After smiling back at Riku, I turned to see the other boy. He was about the same height and age as me. He had dark brown hair that spiked out in all directions. He had two big, dark blue eyes. They looked so familiar. He smiled just like Riku and I smiled back. _

"_You guys, this is Kairi, the girl who is living in the governor's mansion," Selphie said._

"_Nice to meet you," Riku said. Sora just sat there quietly. _

"_We were just about to eat lunch. My mom packed extra, too. Would you like to stay for lunch, Kairi?" Selphie asked. I nodded. "Great! Tidus and I have to go get drinks though. We'll be back in half an hour."_

"_Yeah, and I have to do some chores first. I'll be back soon," Wakka said. "Sora, Riku, why don't you guys give Kairi a tour."_

_Wakka got in a boat and Tidus and Selphie got in another. Riku placed his hand on my back and started to lead me around the island. "So, Kairi, where exactly are you from?" he asked._

"_You guys are gonna think I am completely crazy, but, I don't remember," I said quietly. Sora listened from behind. Neither of them said anything. They led me around the island showing me all the places. They planned to build a shack and other things to make the island more livable. _

_They had already built a zip-line though. Riku, Sora, and I all climbed a tall ladder to the top. Sora had been quiet this whole time. I had never heard his voice. _

_I got to the edge of the platform. Riku wrapped an arm around my waist and then jumped off the platform. I was so scared as we flew through the air that I couldn't even scream. _

_When we got to the other side, Riku jumped to the ground; a good twenty feet below me. "Sorry about not having a ladder to get down yet," he yelled from below. I looked back at the other tower to find Sora, but he was already walking across the beach in between the two towers. He looked upset but I tried to think about how to get down._

"_Riku, how do I get down?" I shouted to him just as Sora came to his side._

"_Just jump."_

"_Are you crazy?! I'll kill myself!"_

"_I'll catch you," he said holding his arms out. _

_I took a deep breath and then jumped. I landed in his arms, thankfully. But he didn't let me down. He carried you up a hill to a hole leading into the rock wall. "This tunnel leads to the side of the island that we started on," Riku said crawling into it._

_I followed him, feeling the walls carefully, making sure I didn't run into a turn in the tunnel because it was dark. Sora entered after me. I came to the other end of the tunnel. But, unfortunately, the end was above the ground, so I fell. Riku once again, caught me. He let me down this time and led me to a small island off the beach._

_I heard a thump behind me. I turned to see Sora on the ground. I wanted to go and help him but he got up after noticing that Riku wasn't going to help. The three of us came to an odd-shaped tree covered in star-shaped, yellow fruit. _

_Riku pointed to one of the fruits and said, "Those are called paupu fruits. There is a legend that says if two people share one, they'll be together forever. Their destinies will be connected forever…no matter what," Riku said. Sora sat down on the bent tree trunk and looked our way. _

"_Sounds like a gushy romantic legend," I said._

"_Maybe so," he replied. Just then I noticed Tidus and Selphie tying their boat to the dock. Wakka was rowing up too. The three of us went down to the beach and ate quietly. _

_The rest of the day went by, just all of us just playing on the beach or playing hide-and-seek. Before I knew it, the sun was setting quickly. _

_Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie said good-bye and got in their boats and headed home. Riku came up to Sora. "Sora, I have to go home and since right now we only have one boat, you have to come too," he said. Sora and I were sitting side-by-side on the sand. _

_Before Sora could say anything, I answered for him, "That's OK, Riku. If Sora wants to stay I could give him a ride in mine."_

_Riku frowned. I could see Sora smile out of the corner of my eye. Riku said good-bye and started home._

_Sora and I were silent for a few minutes. Finally, I broke the silence. "Sora…"he turned. "…I'm sorry Riku was being kinda mean to you today. I mean he never even let you talk and he didn't seam to care that you were even there. And well, I guess I'm just sorry."_

_He smiled. Then finally I got to hear his voice for the first time. "It's OK. Riku is always bossing me around. He's like a big brother who just picks on the little one. I'm used to it."_

"_Are you sure?" _

"_Yeah."_

"_Hey Sora…"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Thanks."_

"_For what?"_

"_Well, even though you didn't say anything all day, I still feel like I made another friend."_

"_What?"_

"_Well, I was so nervous about coming over here. I was afraid that I wouldn't make any friends here or that well, I would just be the strange new girl that everyone would make fun of."_

"_Well, you can always count on me to beat the living daylights out of anyone who make fun of you," he said smiling. I smiled too. "Friends forever, then?" he asked. _

"_Forever."_

_-----------------------------_

I sat up quickly breathing deeply. The dream was of the first time I saw my sister in a vision. When I first saw that vision I cried, but now, it was nothing new.

I teleported myself to Naminé's room. I sat down at the table and grabbed a sheet of paper.

Kairi, Naminé, and I all had our ways of drawing. Naminé was good with sketches and abstract drawings. I was good with almost lifelike drawings. Kairi was somewhere in between.

I started drawing a picture of Naminé, Roxas, Axel, and I. There was no real background, just colors. Roxas was on the far right of the drawing and Axel was on the far left. Naminé and I were in the middle. She was standing next to Roxas and I next to Axel. We were all crammed together as if we were posing for a photo. Roxas and Axel had their inside arms around Naminé's and my shoulder.

It was just a fun drawing that came to my mind. I was finishing coloring it when Naminé came inside. "It's time," she said.

I didn't say anything. I just set the drawing on the table and changed to my Organization cloak. I leaned back in the chair.

"Axel is back. Xemnas has given him a mission to get rid of Roxas," she continued.

"He won't do it," I said plainly.

"DiZ is about to call him to the mansion. DiZ doesn't know that I am going to speak with him."

"What are you going to say to him?"

"Everything else he needs to hear. It is the last time he'll be here."

"I told him the day he left that there was a chance that Sora might be the one to make him whole, not the other way around. That was before DiZ got him. That was before all of this happened."

"It was destined to happen. Sora lost his memories and I told him he could get them back. I had no idea that that meant Roxas would have to go through this."

"I know. It's just that…what happens now? He's gonna become part of Sora. What about you? What happens to you? Do you become part of Kairi?"

"I'm not sure."

"Is there anyway that Roxas can come back to being his old self again?"

She didn't answer this time. She walked over to the window. I waited until she answered, "No. Roxas wasn't supposed to exist. He won't be able to come back now."

I took a deep breath. "You weren't supposed to exist either, Naminé," I said.

"I know. But, all this time—I just didn't say anything—I didn't want anyone to worry."

I jumped up. "What?!" She didn't turn to look at me. "Answer me! You knew that you were going to go away this whole time! You didn't say a word!"

"I am inside of you, Raene. When I go away, I'll be inside of Kairi, which means I'll be inside you too."

"Naminé…" I said my voice lowering.

She didn't answer. After a minute, I realized she wasn't really here with me. She was having a vision. She was looking into a memory.

After another minute she spoke, "Roxas is on his way. DiZ stopped time around Axel so he couldn't destroy him."

"He wouldn't have done it anyway."

"I'm not so sure. He looked very determined."

"Continue," I said shooing it away.

"You should go see Axel while I talk to Roxas. You'll see him before he goes, I promise. He has to make his way through the basement to Sora anyway."

I nodded and teleported away. "Axel!" I yelled running up to him. Before he could turn around, I jumped on his back nearly suffocating him. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too," he said prying me off of him.

"How was home?" I asked.

"I was sent to destroy him. I…I didn't want to, but…but…"

"You don't have to say anything. I understand. Naminé wants to talk with Roxas for a while before we can say good-bye."

"See that's what I mean! Why are you so comfortable with what they are doing?! That's why I was going to have and destroy him. Roxas is being taken away to be someone else!"

"So you would rather have him dead!? Besides, I don't see what your problem is, the Organization needs Sora to be whole so they can get hearts."

"I told you that I don't care about becoming whole!"

"Well you would still have your best friend dead than have him at all, even if he is different! Just remember, Axel, Roxas wasn't supposed to exist until like a year ago. Sora would have always been the real Roxas."

"Still, why do you get along so well with the people who are taking away your best friend!?"

"Because one of those people is technically me, and two, that person is basically giving herself away, too!"

He paused at my last comment. "Wh…what?"

"You heard me. Naminé is going to have the same thing happen to her as Roxas. And yes, we will never get to see them like this again. Unless…somehow, where us Nobodies go once we die allows us to see them again. I have no idea what is going to happen!"

My eyes started to swell with tears. Everything was falling apart. I was losing two best friends and I might never see them again.

Axel pulled me into his chest. I held in tears as I sat there trying to calm myself down. He released me and we sat there quietly for a minute, thousands of thoughts running through our minds.

----------------------

Roxas walked into Naminé's room again. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do here. He walked around until a certain drawing caught his eye. It was him but before he could see anymore of the drawing his head started to throb with pain. One of the last moments of his old life flashed through his mind.

'What am I supposed to say to him?' Roxas thought to himself as he continued down the street. He saw Axel leaning against the side of a building up ahead. He said good-bye to one friend; he could do it again, right? Unfortunately, Axel was harder to talk to then he thought.

He walked past Axel continuing down the street. Maybe it would be easier not to say anything at all.

"Roxas…" Axel said quietly. Roxas paused and waited for Axel to continue. "Please don't go."

"Why?" he said. He knew the reason already. Everyone thought he would get hurt if he left. But why?

"I've seen what happens to people when they leave. I've seen what happens to those who do. I don't want that to happen to you," he said. His arms were crossed against his chest and he was looking at the ground.

"What happened to the others? No one ever told me. Xemnas went away and while he was gone six members and Naminé went away to another place. Naminé is gone; we don't know where she is now. You were the only one of the six members who came back. What happened to Marluxia, Larxene, Zexion, Vexen, and Lexaeus?"

Axel paused before answering, "Marluxia was plotting to take over the Organization by using Sora. Larxene was with him. I played as a double agent. I never really liked them so that is why I did what I did. I urged Sora on and Larxene and Marluxia fell. Zexion and Lexaeus fell to Sora's friend Riku."

"What about Vexen?"

"I had to get rid of him to gain Marluxia and Larxene's trust. "

Roxas waited, comprehending everything he had just heard. "Naminé is gone…"

"I don't know why. I think it has something to do with Sora. Naminé messed with Sora's memories because Marluxia told her to. She then acted on her own freewill and started fixing what she messed up. She left to fix them."

"How did Sora meet up with you all wherever you all were?"

"I…I don't know," Axel said matter-of-factly. "I never even thought about it."

"Xemnas…"

"What?"

"After all of that happened, Xemnas returned and said that he had been to see him and that he looked a lot like me. That's how I found out about Sora. Raene just now told me his name. But, he had been to see him; maybe that's what he meant. He sent him to you guys."

"Why would Xemnas send him there if he was against traitors. Marluxia was going to use him to overthrow Xemnas. Why would Xemnas give him his ultimate weapon?"

"Maybe Xemnas has his own secret plot. Maybe he knew of how powerful Sora is and he wanted to get rid of them instead of having to send someone else after them."

"But at that risk…?"

"Who knows…but still, back to where we started. That's not going to happen to me."

"Your mind is made up. I don't care if you have to find out the truth. You can't turn on the Organization!"

Roxas' head stopped throbbing and he turned to see Naminé sitting in her usual seat at the opposite end of the room. "Organization XIII…what…what are they? Bad or good?" Roxas asked.

"You and I were raised since we were less than a year old by them. But still, I don't know if they are bad or good. They are neither Light nor Darkness, so I don't really know. They were once our family, Roxas…I just never thought about it. They are just people who aren't complete. They are trying to become whole. They're desperate to be the humans they once were; especially the older members who remember their past lives better. Axel doesn't remember his past life so well, so he isn't that crazy. These people are searching for Kingdom Hearts. It's a place where hearts of those who turn to Darkness go. The Organization is trying to get enough hears to be human again."

"Naminé…there is one thing I want to ask. I've been thinking. I know that I am going to help Sora become whole. But, what does that mean happens to me?"

Naminé spoke barely two words before she became frozen. He called out her name and then she disappeared into thin air. Then someone appeared behind where she was just sitting.

It was the man from when he first met at the Sandlot. "There is no knowledge that can change your fate, Roxas," he spoke in his deep voice.

"Just tell me anyway. I don't care if it can't. I want to know, I have the right!"

"You don't have the right to know, Roxas. Nobodies do not have rights…even to be."

"What is a Nobody?!" Roxas asked sternly.

Then all of a sudden someone else popped up next to the man called DiZ. He was dressed in a black cloak like the Organization and his face was covered. He said, "There are too many Nobodies. We are out of time!"

Then again, another person popped up. This time it was Naminé on DiZ's other side. The black mist that they teleport from didn't disappear from behind her. Her voice called out to him, "Roxas. You and I…we are Nobodies that are only half a person. Our true beings, they're still alive. You won't disappear when you go away, you'll be whole!"

"Silence, Naminé! We shall have no further outbursts!" DiZ said walking over to Naminé. He grabbed hold of her arm from behind with one hand and attempted to cover her mouth with the other while trying to pull her into the black mist.

"You won't disappear! You'll…" she spoke but was cut off by a hand covering her mouth.

Roxas yelled at him to stop but DiZ didn't listen, he just continued to pull her away. Roxas ran forward to stop him, but DiZ's assistant jumped in front of him like a wall.

Naminé pried the hand off her mouth and spoke again, "Roxas. Listen, we will meet again. We'll have time to talk about everything. I may not know it's you and you may not know it's me. But we will meet again no matter what. Someday soon. I promise!"

And with that, they disappeared completely into the mist and DiZ's assistant disappeared too.

"Let her go! Naminé!" Roxas called out, but he was too late. They were gone.

Roxas eventually made his way to the basement where he came to a room. It was dark and had machinery everywhere. There was a computer in the corner. He walked over to it and his head began to throb again with terrible pain. Another memory flashed by.

A large white room appeared. There were thirteen chairs in a circle high above the ground. It was the room where Xemnas called meetings. Raene was on the ground in the center in front of a person on his chair. His face was covered. They were speaking but he couldn't hear their voices.

Then it showed Roxas running down a street similar to the one he had been talking to Axel in his other memory. There were white creatures chasing him.

Then it showed a boy sitting on the ground. He had silvery hair and he was blindfolded. "Why? Why do you have the Keyblade?" he yelled.

Roxas was standing in front of him. He had his cloak pulled up over his head. "Shut up!" he yelled back as he brought his white Keyblade down to the blindfolded boy. The boy jumped up and sent Roxas flying backwards.

Next the memory showed Roxas, unconscious on the ground. He was in the room that the computer was in. He was on top of a platform under a ray held above his head. DiZ and his assistant were by him.

"Will it work?" DiZ's assistant asked.

"It will. If we can maintain the simulate town, that is, until Naminé finishes her project." DiZ answered sitting down at the computer. He pushed some buttons as his assistant continued to talk.

"What will happen to Roxas?"

"He holds half of Sora's power. He will have to give it back in the end. For now, he'll need another personality to throw off the Organization or others who are seeking him out."

"Poor thing."

"It's the fate of a Nobody." And with that, DiZ pushed another button. A blue light shot down from the ray above Roxas and engulfed him. Roxas then disappeared.

The memory faded and Roxas found himself back in the computer room. The throbbing stopped. Anger overpowered him and he began to smash the computer in front of him to bits.

When he was done, he walked through another door. He came to another dark room.

---------------

I was standing at the other end quietly. "Roxas, where's Naminé?" Roxas didn't answer and looked down. "Oh…" I said pausing. "Roxas…there is only a matter of time. I…I just wanted to say good-bye."

"Will we meet again? And I mean for real. Naminé said that she and I would meet again, but we may not know it's us. What does that mean?"

"You will be inside of Sora and she will be inside of Kairi, my sister. Maybe on the inside you can see each other, but maybe, you won't."

"What happens to Nobodies when they go away?"

"Nobody knows. We believe that we go to the same places humans go when they die. But then, since we are already alive in a past life, there is a thought that we go to a non-existent place."

"If we go there, will Naminé and I be able to see each other?"

"Did she say that you would meet again?"

"Yes. She said someday soon."

"Well then you will, someday soon. Naminé doesn't lie."

"What about you and Axel? You two are my best friends too, when will I see you again?"

"Nobodies aren't immortal, Roxas. Eventually we will die, even if it is by age. And I guess that we will meet, if it is in that place or the places where humans go, we will see each other again."

"Kairi is your sister?"

"Yes. I live inside her and she lives inside me. So I will always see Naminé, hopefully."

"What about me?"

"When I see Sora, I'll see you."

"How?"

"You are my best friend, Roxas. Even if I have seen Sora my entire life through my sister, I still see you more. When I look at him, you will shine straight through the mask so I can see you."

"We've said good-bye before, right?"

"Yes."

"Did I keep my promise?"

My head shot up. "You remember?"

"I know that I kept a promise to see you again. I kept it even though it wasn't the same. But now you are keeping a promise, right?"

"A promise to see each other again."

"Yes. I know you will keep your promise."

I nodded. "I'll miss you, Roxas."

"It won't be that long before we see each other again," Roxas said stepping closer.

"I know. It…it just won't be the same…right?" I said stepping forward also.

"I'll miss you, Raene." Roxas grabbed me and pulled me into a huge hug.

I was surprised at first but then I pulled my arms up and wrapped them around his neck and hugged him back.

Axel then appeared off to the side of me. "Yeah, I'll miss you too, Roxas," he said.

"Axel." He said quietly releasing me.

"Heh, you do realize this is all your fault?" He said.

"His fault?! What are you talking about, Axel?!" I said turning to Axel.

"If you hadn't left the Organization, Raene and I wouldn't have to be going through this, losing you!" He yelled summoning his weapons.

"Axel! What are you doing?!" I yelled running to Axel trying to calm him down.

Axel pushed me to the side. He then made a wall of fire circle around him and Roxas, with me on the outside. Roxas summoned the Keyblade…no, wait…two Keyblades!

"Two!?" Axel said under his breath.

"Axel!" I called from the outside of the fire. I tried to beat my way through the flames but I just couldn't do it.

Before long, Roxas had beaten Axel down. Axel was breathing heavily. Roxas stood up tall as the flames died down. I rushed over to Axel but looked up at Roxas. Roxas then remembered something else.

He was back next to Axel on the street. "Roxas, listen to me! If you get on their bad side, they'll destroy you just like the others who turned. Please! Raene and I don't want to lose you! I don't want to lose you!"

"I don't care! You guys are just saying all that stuff. So listen to me, Axel; no one would miss me!" He turned and walked down that street for the last time.

"That's not true…" Axel said, his head falling forward. "…I would."

The memory faded. "Axel…Raene…" he said.

"Roxas…let's meet again in the next life," Axel said. I stood up to my full height and smiled at Roxas.

"Yeah…I'll be waiting, you guys."

Axel laughed then said as a black mist surrounded both of us, "Silly. Just because you have a next life…"

-----------------------------

Roxas walked down a hallway. Large white bubbles lined one side of the hallway. Two of them caught Roxas' eye. "Donald? Goofy?" Inside the bubbles were Donald and Goofy sleeping. Roxas continued down the hall and walked through a door.

On the other side was a large, bright, white room. In the middle was a larger bubble. DiZ stood in front of it.

"The Keyblade's chosen one, at last," DiZ said as Roxas stepped completely into the room.

"Who are you talking to? I'm sick of being confused. Me? Or Sora?" Roxas asked annoyed.

"To half to you both. You are in the realm of nothing, Roxas. I need someone who can go around the realm of Light and destroy Organization XIII."

"Why? Who exactly are you?"

DiZ made a sarcastic remark that sent Roxas over the edge. Roxas lunged at him with his Keyblade at hand. He sliced the Keyblade at DiZ, but, unfortunately, it went right through him.

"Roxas, I am terribly sorry but, I am only a projection of data," DiZ said. "As are everyone you have come to befriend in this town. You aren't in the real world."

Roxas again became outraged with anger. He began slicing again and the hologram for some time. He tired and stopped when the hologram faded away and reappeared closer to the bubble.

DiZ called Roxas over to him. "I hate you so much!" Roxas yelled.

"Roxas, why not you share some of that hatred with Sora. You see…he is far too nice for his own good."

"No! My heart belongs to me!" Roxas yelled charging once more at DiZ. This time, DiZ disappeared for good.

The bubble in front of Roxas began to open. Roxas stood and watched carefully. Finally it opened all the way and there sat Sora. He was floating, fast asleep in the now open cocoon.

"Sora…you're lucky; so many people who care for you, so much light. I guess my summer vacation is…over," Roxas said. He slowly faded away; gone from the world forever.

**----------------------**

**Hey guys! Yeah, I told you this one was long. I have been working non-stop on this for three days, so hope you like it. R/R please. D**


	7. Welcome home

Chapter 7! Enjoy!

Axel and I walked quietly through the never-ending tunnel of darkness. Neither of us said a word to each other as we passed by the many colors surrounding us. I looked at my feet as I thought about my lost friends. I tried desperately not to be sad but tears continued to beat against my eyelids whenever they closed.

I wasn't even paying attention when Axel stopped in front of me. I ran into his back and bounced backwards onto the transparent ground. Axel didn't even turn around to help me up. He just stood motionless with his eyes closed. I shook my head and slowly pulled myself up.

I walked to Axel's left and waited for him to do something. After a few minutes, Axel's emerald eyes snapped open as if he had been in a trance. "I think we're here," he said quickly as he raised his left arm in front of him. He moved his fingers ever so slightly. I turned to look in front of us as a portal appeared.

Axel walked forward towards it. "Why did it take you so long to realize that we were here already?" I asked following him. I passed through the black mist and appeared on one of the old familiar streets.

"Because Xemnas is trying to hide the headquarters from the enemy," he answered quickening his pace through the city.

Eventually the two of us came to the glass like pass to the sky. Axel and I had always been ones to walk when we could instead of teleporting. We slowly made the climb to the castle entrance and into the main hall.

"It feels good to be home," I said breathing in the air.

"What do you mean?" he questioned.

I thought it was a kind of obvious statement for me to make and I had no idea why he didn't understand it. "Hello? Home? We're home. I'm happy; we haven't been home in a few months, that's all."

"Oh…I just thought you meant something else," he said turning to walk down a hall. I ran up to his side and gave him a confused look as we continued along the polished hall.

"When you said _home_ I thought meant like well, your real home, with your family," he said noticing that I wanted an answer.

"This has always been my home. You guys have been the only family I ever had. Well, besides what I had—" I trailed off. "I mean my mom died right after Kairi and I were born. And well my dad, I only knew him till I was five. I guess Kairi is the only thing left of my real family."

Axel didn't say anything, he just continued to walk, and so I continued talking. "Do you remember the first day I came here?" I asked. He nodded. "You told me that I didn't lose a family when I came here, you said that I got another one. Ever since then, I considered everyone here as my family. This is my home and these people are my family. I missed them when we went to go find Roxas." I finished and waited for Axel to say something.

He finally did. "I wish I could remember my family before I came here." He spoke in a normal tone but a hint of sadness clouded his voice.

"Don't you remember anybody? Xemnas said you would start to remember as you got older. I mean _anything_?" I asked.

"There is one thing."

My eyes widened with curiosity. I shot my eyes to Axel's face. "What! What do you remember!"

"It's not so much something, it's someone." I waited for him to continue. "And…I don't remember her as much as I hope."

"Her! What does she look like! What's her name! What's—" but Axel stopped me by placing a gloved hand over my lips.

"Listen. I've seen her since I was little. I couldn't see much then though. Back then it was like awakening from a dream. I would see her but then I couldn't remember what I had seen. As I grew older I saw more. She's about the same age as me. By that, I mean she grew as I grew. As I got older, I saw her get older in my memories."

"Why didn't you tell me that you remembered something before?"

"Because I wanted to keep it to myself until I understood who she was."

"Maybe she was a sister or somebody. Do you know who she is?" I asked.

"I don't know who she is. But I don't think she was a sister. I think I might remember that if she was."

"What does she look like?"

"She…well actually…she looks a lot like you only older. Did you have any older relatives, maybe a cousin?"

"Nope. My mom was an only child. My dad had two sisters but they died when they were young just after my mom and dad got married." Axel didn't say anything. "Do you remember anything else about her?"

"A little. I remember that we used to spend a lot of time together. I feel like she was my best friend or something. But not much else."

"Do you remember her name?"

He shook his head. I lowered mine, disappointed. I was hoping to know more. "But it was a beautiful name. I just remember it being beautiful," he said quietly.

I raised my head with a smile on my face. I was happy that Axel was remembering things.

Axel and I came to another large open hall with the ceiling towering above our heads. The two of us stopped to sound of hysterical laughter coming towards us. We waited until someone emerged from a second hallway to the side.

"Well, if it isn't Hothead and Bad Temper? Welcome back. Maybe you two could help me out, should I start calling Axel Hothead and Raene Bad Temper or keep them as they are?" Demyx said walking up between Axel and I. He put his arms around both of our shoulders grinning crazily.

"It's nice to see you too, Demyx. But, I'd like to stick with my old name thanks," I said pushing his arm off.

"Axel, buddy-o-pal. Xemnas has called a meeting," he said after Axel shoved his other arm off of him too.

Axel and I started to walk in the direction of the meeting chamber but someone grabbed my hood and held me back. Axel stopped and watched as Demyx started to talk to me. "Sorry, Beautiful, but Xemnas wants only the real members," he said letting go of my hood.

"No problem. I'll catch you later, Axel," I said turning the other direction and walking around the castle.

I wandered around for a while until I noticed the big, dark oak double doors at the end of the hall. Through those doors was one of the few rooms with color in it. I made my way inside and took in my surroundings. I was in the library. The huge circular room was one of Larxene's favorite places to spend her free time. The room was five stories tall and had a diameter of five stories too. The entire outer wall was one giant bookcase. Several more bookcases shot out to the center of the room from the outside. The ceiling had several large crystal chandeliers, but only the large one in the center was lit.

I walked to the center of the room. Several times when I was little I used to come in here to pass through the other door to another part of the castle. Larxene would be sitting in the very center of the room with piles of books around her. She would have them stacked up to her full height and have several books open at once laying on the floor in front of her.

The room was dusty since no one ever came in here anymore. Vexen and Larxene were the only ones who actually used this room. Now that they were both gone, no one bothered to keep it clean. Some of the isles of bookcases were completely filled with cobwebs. Inches of dust covered the books and desks and chairs from being unused in over a year.

Next to me in the center of the room were several stacks of books coming up to near my height. Books were thrown open all around my feet. Larxene never left books out unless there was an emergency. She must have had to leave for the last time right away and never got to come back to her library.

When I was younger and would pass through the library, Larxene was so interested in the book she was reading that she never noticed my presence. I sat down where she usually sat in her circle of books and picked up the book that was open up in front of me. The cover had been worn away as well as the title page and several other pages throughout the book. Some pages were torn or ripped. Some were even missing.

I was about to put the book back on the ground where I found it when I noticed a neatly folded piece of paper where the book had been laying. I picked it up and carefully unfolded the embroidered paper. On the inside was the writing of Larxene in her waving handwriting. It read:

This is just a bookmark for the book that I am reading. I never liked to keep a diary of some sort, but I decided to keep this so I could look back on it later. I did try to keep a diary once but I lost it among all the thousands of books in this room.

This is my all time favorite book in the whole library. I've decided not to write the title down anywhere since it wore away many years ago, so that when I am looking at it again one day, I can test my memory and see if I can remember it once more. I am also going to test myself to see if I can remember the lost pages or paragraphs.

Marluxia has an idea on his mind, which I am not to write or talk about under any circumstances. It's a sure fire plan and will finally get us the respect we deserve. Marluxia asked Axel to come along with our plan. He agreed. Marluxia also asked if Raene would join but Axel demanded that Raene have no knowledge of the plan. Marluxia has planned for us to start our plot within the next week. There is no way that anyone can stop us!

Well, Marluxia is here. He says that we have to go now and that it's urgent. I guess that once our plan succeeds I'll be back to clean up these books. Until then I'll miss you beloved library.

Long live the Organization

Larxene, number 12, The Savage Nymph

I closed and neatly folded the paper and placed it back under the book.

Larxene and I weren't always at each other's throats. At one time, we actually were civil to each other. And by 'civil' I mean, we weren't trying to rip each other's hair out.

Around the time that I was nine and she eleven we actually were getting along. I'm not sure why but we just did. I even let her pierce my ears, believe it or not. I already had my ears pierced once but she insisted on me getting a second piercing next to the first.

"_Larxene, are you sure about this?" I asked sitting on the small trunk at the end of her bed. I squinted my eyes together trying to rid myself of the nervousness that was clouding my mind._

"_Would you just relax? It won't hurt a single bit," she said calmly holding her kunais and sharpening them with a rock she somehow came to find. _

"_You're gonna stab me with those to pierce my ears?" I shouted curling into a ball and covering my ears with my gloved hands._

"_No, no, silly. Sharpening them simply makes my aim better," she said smiling. _

_That didn't make me feel any better. "So you're gonna SHOOT a hole through my ears with them!" Larxene didn't look up but the smile played across her face got bigger. "Larxene, last time you shot near me with those I had to spend a week in Vexen's lab waiting for him to find some cure for the wound."_

_She giggled. "Yeah, sorry about that." I looked down at my feet. I heard her stand up. "Ok, ready!"_

"_Larxene, I swear if I get hurt from this, I'm sicking Axel on you," I said as she stood next to me. I closed my eyes as I heard static and electric popping in the room. Then a feeling shot through my head that tingled. _

_I opened my eyes when I felt Larxene putting something in my ears. I looked up at her face. She was smiling. She then handed me a mirror. I carefully grabbed the mirror and looked into it. _

_To my surprise my ears were pierced. I didn't feel any sharp pain or electrocution. I had in a pair of blue raindrop-shaped dangling earrings. Next to them higher up the ear was a new pair. There were little lightning bolt-shaped studs. They were bright yellow and had a silver outlining. _

"_My personal signature," Larxene said after a moment._

"_It didn't hurt," I said happily looking at myself in the mirror a few more times._

"_They will." I looked up at her in confusion. She just smiled and left the room. I sat there on the trunk thinking. What did she mean? How could they hur—? A sudden pain shot through my head. _

_I screamed out in pain while listening to the giggling of Larxene outside the door. After the pain went away, I sat there quietly until I heard the shriek of Larxene. I laughed as I saw a point of a chakram slam through the wall next to the door and then the sound of fire erupting outside the room. "Larxene! Get back here!" _

My memories faded away. I brought one hand up to my ear. The same pairs of earrings were still there; the blue raindrops and yellow lightning bolts. I stood up and walked out of the library and around the castle for a few more minutes until I stumbled upon the largest open white room in the castle that I had ever seen.

Of course I had seen it before, but there could be dozens more in Xemnas' private quarters that are much bigger than this room. The room that I was standing in was the training room. This room could hold a thousand Organization XIII's and still have room for everyone to be fighting.

I stood in the center and admired the tall white room. Scars of all sorts marked the walls and floor: scrape marks from Keyblades, burns from chakrams, holes in the walls from Luxaeus and Larxene. Those holes in the ground had been filled with water from Demyx and frozen by Vexen. Shoot wholes from Xemnas and Xigbar. Parts of the walls were collapsed thanks to Saïx. The room was completely destroyed but still strong.

"_Axel are you sure she is ready? I mean she only started teleporting a few weeks ago, are you sure you should be summoning Heartless and Nobodies already?" Demyx asked. _

_Axel, Roxas, Larxene, Demyx, Marluxia, and I were the only ones in the training room. We were all kind of near the corner of two walls and away from the doors. Larxene was sitting on a white throne next to us all and Marluxia stood behind her like a big brother watching over his baby sister. Demyx was leaning against a wall with his arms folded against his chest. Axel, Roxas, and I were all standing there in the middle of everyone with our weapons summoned._

"_Yes, now would you just shut up!" Axel said getting annoyed with him and his constant interrupting. _

"_Is that anyway to treat the Birthday Boy?" he said. It had been a few months since I had gotten here, almost a year in fact. Today was Demyx's ninth birthday and he was going crazy._

"_Don't act like it's anything special. I mean, everyone else's birthdays are going up too," Axel said. In a few days it was Larxene's ninth birthday. Then Roxas would be turning seven, then Naminé, then me. After the three of us turned seven, Axel would be turning ten. He surprisingly wasn't very excited about it._

_Marluxia who was twenty snorted with laughter at our immaturity but no one seamed to notice. "Well, I think you should be happy, Demyx. Happy Birthday!" I said giving him a hug. He smiled._

"_Oh, could we just get on with this!" Larxene shouted jumping off of the marble throne. _

"_Right. Ok, Raene…um…ok we need someone to help us," Roxas said. Nobody had any idea of how to properly train me._

_Marluxia stepped forward and started to explain to me basic moves and ways to defend and attack. I wasn't very good when he asked me to go against Roxas. But, I was good enough that Roxas got upset. _

_Marluxia told me to take my stance and start. I was doing ok and blocking swings from Roxas but occasionally he did hit me on the arm with his white Keyblade. Marluxia told us to only summon one for now. Roxas had summoned Oathkeeper while I summoned my black Keyblade. _

_After Marluxia told us to stop Roxas got all upset and summoned both. He said that he had been training with only one Keyblade his whole life and that he wanted a change. _

_That wasn't a problem though. I just simply summoned my other one. We started again. It was harder for me to hold both at the same time. Probably because I never had lifted heaving things before and be expected to attack people with them. Roxas beat me pretty hard that time._

_Marluxia said that I should for right now start on basics like blocking. He also mentioned that I had a gift that he had never seen before. He said that he had never seen anyone do so well on their first try. I guess he was talking about that time I first summoned my Keyblades the first day I came here. _

_He said for just a few minutes for me to try and block lightning strikes from Larxene. Larxene jumped up excitedly. She started off easy and I was blocking them with one Keyblade. Then all of a sudden she started going crazy and shooting lightning at me from all directions. I jumped up and down as if I were barefoot on a bed of burning coal. Larxene laughed until Demyx summoned his sitar shot a torpedo of water towards Larxene. She immediately stopped her attack because her own weapon was electrocuting her. _

I turned and walked out of the scarred room and went down a hall that led to an outside staircase. It was a beautiful night; it wasn't stormy and there weren't any clouds in the sky. Thousands of stars were shining down as I climbed the long marble staircase on the eastside of the castle.

All of a sudden I heard quiet laughter and talking coming from my left. I looked and through a window I could see the backs of two Organization members walking by before they disappeared out of view through the window.

I jumped through the window since it was only a few feet off the ground from the stair I was on. I turned and looked to see Saïx and Xaldin walking with their backs turned towards me. I slowly followed. They obviously heard me and turned. I walked up to them.

Over the years Saïx and I had gotten along better than when I first got here. I figured that is wasn't his fault that he was the one who kidnapped me. It could have been any of the members; Xemnas just chose him to do it.

"Well, Xarene, welcome home," Saïx said. He smiled his smirk that he has.

"How was the mission?" Xaldin asked.

"Good. So, how was the meeting?" I asked casually.

"You mean you haven't talked to him yet?" Saïx asked surprisingly.

"Talked to who? Axel? What about him?" I asked.

"Why don't you go find him? We wouldn't want to spoil the surprise," Xaldin said summoning a portal and dragging the snickering Saïx in with him.

_What did they mean 'surprise'? _I thought for a moment before jumping in a portal. I knew exactly where Axel would be.

I stepped out of the portal to face the back of Axel. He was leaning against the railing of the tall white tower. Xemnas was standing next to him talking but Axel didn't seam to be listening. I couldn't understand what Xemnas was saying. When he noticed me, he walked over to the staircase that led to his private quarters.

After Xemnas was out of view, I walked up to Axel's left and leaned over the railing just as he was doing. I looked down to the dark hole that the castle floated above. It went on forever until it probably reached the other side of this world.

"Sure is a beautiful night, huh, Axel?" I said casually. He seamed troubled by something, but over the years I knew not to jump right into asking him what was wrong.

"Yep," he simply answered. He closed his eyes. His soft, pale eyelids covered the bright green color and he breathed in deeply a few times before opening them once more.

"Is something bothering you, Axel?" I asked forgetting not to jump right in.

He sighed then stood up. I turned and leaned my back against the railing. He paced around a moment before stopping in front of me and looking me straight in the eyes.

"Raene," he breathed quietly closing his eyes again. I listened carefully to his next words. "I have some bad news."

Sorry it took a while to update everybody. It might take a while to get the next one up because I have to visit family for the next few days. R/R


	8. The Bad News

Chapter 8!

--------------------------

I do not own any thing but Raene, my OC

--------------------------

"What do you mean you've been kicked out!" I screamed. Axel lowered his face and closed his beautiful eyes in sorrow. "Why? What happened?"

Axel slowly raised his head and sighed before answering. "Everything was going fine. Xemnas was just getting on me for failing my mission; the one to bring Roxas back. Then Saïx had to say something." I waited for him to continue. "He had to bring up the whole double agent act I pulled last year."

"You explained to him didn't you? I mean you told me that Xemnas accepted what you did. You told him that you only were doing what you did to help the Organization right?" I asked eyes wide.

"I did. I only went with the traitors to rid the true Organization of them because they were trying to over through Xemnas, despite how much I hate him. I told him everything that happened and he understood."

"So then why did this happen?" I asked raising my arms in confusion.

"Saïx had to mention that one thing I did to gain Larxene and Marluxia's trust," he said turning his face. You pulled his chin back in your direction urging for him to continue. "I only did what I did to Vexen because he was going against their plans and I had to do it. What Vexen was planning on doing wasn't any better than what Larxene and Marluxia were doing."

"So Xemnas changed his mind?" I asked. He nodded sadly. "What about Demyx? Didn't he back you up in the meeting? You guys got along enough for him to back you up, right?"

Axel shook his head. "We did but he just sat there and didn't say a word," he answered.

"Demyx just is trying to prove himself. His whole life he has been trying to show Xemnas and the other members that he isn't just a complete goof and that he isn't worthless. If Xemnas and the other members were gaining up on you, he wasn't going to argue," I spoke understanding.

Axel nodded understanding too. "So what happens now that you have the maximum punishment?" I asked meeting Axel green gaze.

"I didn't receive the maximum punishment!" He protested.

"You didn't? Then what is it then?" I asked totally confused.

"They said they were going to turn me into a dusk if I failed my last mission but that is just a threat they use. Half the other members have failed more missions than me and they aren't dusks. The maximum punishment is what happens after you are kicked out; if you do anything else that is bad."

"You were just kicked out, right?" I asked.

"Yeah. Well, technically I am still a member but I can consider myself as low as a traitor in their eyes," Axel once again lowered his head so that his chin was touching the top of his chest.

"That still doesn't answer my question. What's the maximum punishment?" I asked again.

"Isn't it obvious? What worse than be considered a traitor?" He said looking up at me. I could feel my eyes get larger with fear. His stare dug into my blue orbs as I realized what it was.

"Death…" I whispered.

--------------------------------

Axel and I had left the tower and gone to his empty room. He sat on the large window seal from which he could see across the vast world. The whole west side of the castle was Xemnas' private quarters. We could go to the dungeons, which were in the lowest levels of the west side. The tower and some rooms on the west side were not part of his quarters, such as Naminé's room.

Axel's eyes were narrowed so only a small bit of color could be seen. I was sitting cross-legged on his large white bed. He never used the bed, nor did the other members since they rarely needed to sleep. I was the only one that needed to actually.

I was sitting there thinking about what Axel had told me about the mission he was sent on. That was the mission that cost the life of five members and the temporary separation from Naminé, not to mention the start of Roxas' departure.

"So Axel, do you understand what you are getting yourself into?" the blonde girl asked. She was standing with her arms folded across her chest. A taller man was standing next to her. His brownish pink shade of hair was blowing in the open window's breeze. The serious redheaded boy sat on a large white trunk receiving specific orders for his newest mission.

"_Yes, Larxene. So what exactly are you trying to do again?" He asked looking up. Larxene looked at him sternly. She wasn't really sure if she should trust him. But her best friend, who she always followed, was trusting him so she didn't protest against Marluxia and his plan of bringing Axel along. _

"_How many times must I explain? We're gonna take Sora and use him to take over the Organization. We need to be respected like the other members!" She spoke rolling her eyes for having to explain Marluxia's genius plan for the umpteenth time._

"_What about the other three? Vexen, Luxaeus, and Zexion? They are respected enough aren't they? I mean with them being three of the founding members and all," Axel said trying to process the information once again._

"_They never liked us newcomers and all. But because Superior has grown fond of newcomers like Luxord and Saïx, they have become slightly…outraged since Superior treats those newcomers better than them," Marluxia said interrupting the soon to occur outburst of Larxene's anger._

"_So they are coming along to see whether they want to go along with us?" Axel said._

"_Yes," Marluxia nodded. He was very fond of Axel and knew he would be a great help in their plan. Too bad they had no idea that Axel had his own plan too. _

"_Argh! I can't take it!" Larxene burst out. "How can we trust him, Marluxia? Why must he come along? This was supposed to be you and me, nobody else." Axel looked up in hidden horror that his plan and been discovered. _

"_Calm down, Larx. We need Axel. After all he knows the Keybearer better than we do," Marluxia said placing a hand on the outraged blonde's shoulder. "Superior informed us that the Keybearer and Xarene's sister are connected. And as we all know, Xarene lives within her sister. Surely, she has told everything she knows about this Sora boy to Axel," he finished smiling and looking down at the relived redhead. _

_Axel nodded. Larxene sighed in defeat to her brotherly figure's point and sank down onto her bed. Axel turned so that he could see her and Marluxia walked to the side of the bed so he could continue talking. _

"_Well, now all we need is Xarene. I'll be back. You two play nice, ok?" Marluxia said about to walk out of the door. _

_Axel jumped up in protest. "What!"_

"_What? You didn't think that we weren't going to bring her along too?" Larxene asked._

"_You can't!" Axel said shifting his stare between the two._

"_And why not?" Marluxia asked his hand poised on the doorknob. _

"_One: She isn't going to fight him. She won't because she knows him too well. Ever since she was little she has seen him as a best friend through her sister's eyes. She even felt that way so much that she considered the fact that she loved him," Axel spoke._

"_Love? As in she 'love' loved him?" Larxene said raising an eyebrow. _

"_Yes. I thought it was crazy too, but I figured that because she spends time knowing everything her sister does, she could possibly love him," Axel said._

"_Is there any other reason why she can't come with us?" Marluxia asked annoyed and fighting himself desperately to not continue out the door. _

"_Yes. Two: …I won't let her." Larxene and Marluxia exchanged glances. _

"_Why won't you let her?" Larxene asked._

"_Because…it's dangerous," Axel said searching for the right words. _

"_How many times does she tell you HERSELF that she's a big girl and can take care of herself?" Larxene questioned standing up and placing her hands on her well-curved hips. _

"_I know that she can…but…but…Marluxia!" Axel said spinning around. _

_Marluxia's eyes opened wide. "What?"_

"_How much do you care for Larxene?" he asked walking up to him and bending down on his knees. _

_Marluxia let go of the doorknob and raised an eyebrow in Larxene's direction. She just shrugged. He looked back down at Axel and came up with a true answer…well…almost true. "She is the closest thing to me. She's like my sister," Marluxia said. The truth was that he had some stronger feelings for Larxene despite their four-year age difference, but he wasn't about to admit them while she was in the room. _

"_Well, that's how I feel for Raene. Please. I know how he fights. If he's anything how Raene describes him from her visions, he's good. I know she could take him, but please…if anything happened to her, I would jump off the tower and fall forever into the dark abyss below us. She is my best friend!" Axel said grabbing 'hold of Marluxia's gloved hand and begging with his head lowered. _

"_Fine." Marluxia spoke understanding how he felt._

"_What!" Larxene said jumping over to them not believing her friend's words. _

_Axel jumped to his feet in happiness. He thanked Marluxia several times. "I guess we don't need her. We already have another person who will be more than enough help anyway," Marluxia said._

"_Who?" Axel asked._

"_Your other friend."_

"_Roxas?"_

"_Nope."_

"_Naminé?"_

"_Bingo!"_

"_What?"_

"_Naminé's powers, silly. We need them to manipulate Sora into falling into our plot."_

"_Naminé wouldn't do that."_

"_With her under my control she would."_

_Axel's beautiful eyes narrowed with anger. _

"_Calm down, Pyro Boy. She's fine, she'll be free to go once our plan goes through," Larxene said speaking instead of Marluxia. "Why don't you go and make an excuse for Xarene. She doesn't need to know about this, according to you. But you'll have to tell her something. It will be a while before you see her again." _

"_How will I know what not to tell her and what to tell her?" Axel said as Marluxia and Larxene started to disappear in a black mist._

"_You'll know when you have to," Marluxia said as they completely left the room through the portal. _

_Axel left the room and slowly walked down the halls towards Raene's room. On the way he desperately tried to think of a way to break and excuse to her. He eventually made it to his destination. He knocked and waited for an answer. _

"_Come in!" came her voice. He slowly opened the door and closed it behind him. _

"_What are you doing?" he asked laughing at Raene. She was wearing her blue shirt and white shorts, but she didn't have her arms through the sleeves. _

"_I'm trying to add some uniqueness to this outfit. I was thinking of wrapping black and white ribbon around the sleeves to match the ribbons around my legs," she spoke with difficulty. She had a red pincushion in her mouth and several feet of ribbons hanging off of her. _

_Axel walked over to her and took the pincushion out of her mouth. He took the access ribbon off of her. She slid her arms in the sleeves and spun around. "What do you think?" she asked. She now had several ribbons wrapped tightly around her arms causing the breeziness of her sleeves to decrease and make it look as if she had ballerina shoes wrapped around her arms. _

"_Beautiful," he said. "So, umm…Raene, I need to talk to you."_

"_What about?" she said still spinning. _

_Axel reached out and grabbed 'hold of her shoulders to stop the spinning. She changed to her black cloak and sat down in a large white chair. He ushered her to scoot over so he could sit with her. She did and he took a seat. _

"_Well. I got a mission."_

"_You came here to tell me that you got a mission? Axel, it's nothing new."_

"_Well this one is. You see, I'll be gone for a long time," he said._

"_You used to go on long missions with Roxas all the time and leave me here. Like I said, it's nothing new," she said smiling. _

"_Roxas isn't going with me. But I do have some partners," he said picking his words carefully._

"_Who?" she asked curiously._

"_Larxene and Marluxia," he answered as if it was no big deal._

"_Are you serious. What kind of mission is this? They never go on any missions unless it was their own. I mean the only mission they would go on would be some plan to take over the Organization," she said laughing not knowing how right she was. _

_Axel forced a terribly fake smile. _

"_Oh my god! They are! And…and you're with them!" Raene said summoning her Keyblades. She hated traitors even if they were her best friends. Her eyes narrowed till they were just small blue slits._

_Axel stood up. "Let me explain!" he begged. He knew the damage she could do with her anger and fighting abilities. _

"_No! You're a traitor!" she yelled charging at him with her Keyblades at hand. _

_Axel reacted quickly and grabbed hold of both of her wrist before she could swing. He backed her into the wall still holding her wrists. He pinned her above the ground a few inches so that the top of her head was NOW only a few inches below the top of his. _

_She struggled to get away but Axel's strength was too great. He pressed his abdomen against her to steady her struggling body even more. Her Keyblades fell with a clank at the ground below her. _

_Axel didn't release his pressure on her body until she calmed down. She concentrated hard on trying to get her weapons to reappear in her hands but Axel's strength had caused that ability to stop. _

_She realized she was powerless and gave up. She leaned her head down do that her chin was touching the top of her chest. Axel leaned his forehead against hers. Her arms went limp along with the rest of her body. Axel took the pressure from his chest from her and caught her as she fell defeated in his arms. He carried her to the bed and sat her down._

_She looked up at him. Tears swelling up in her big blue eyes. He sat down next to her and started to explain. Raene held her hands out towards her Keyblades, which were still on the ground. They appeared in her hands. She folded her arms behind her back and the Keyblades disappeared. _

"_Raene…I'm a double agent. I'm just doing this to rid the Organization of traitors."_

"_Why didn't you say so?"_

"_You didn't give me a chance."_

_She smiled shyly. "I'm sorry."_

"_No problem. But, I just wanted to come and tell you that I would be gone for a while."_

"_You won't be gone, silly. I'm going with you."_

"_No! It's too dangerous!"_

"_Don't treat me like a baby, Axel. I'm perfectly capable of defending myself."_

"_I know. But…it's so dangerous, that well…I may not come back."_

"_What!" She protested jumping up from the bed. _

"_I don't want you to get hurt. Besides, I need you here to take care of Roxas."_

"_So what? I'm a babysitter now?"_

"_No. But we'll be working with Sora. I don't want anything to happen that would cause Roxas to find out about him." Raene frowned. "Just until I get back."_

"_What if you don't come back?"_

_Axel stood up and walked around the bed to look in her eyes. "I'll come back. But, please, do this one favor for me; protect Roxas." Raene looked away but Axel just watered up his eyes to make a nonresistant puppy-dog face. She laughed when she saw it. _

"_Ok. I promise. Nothing will happen to him."_

"_Thank you. I'll see you later ok?"_

_She waited, and then out of nowhere, jumped into his arms squeezing him with all of her strength. He wrapped his thin arms around her skinny waist and squeezed back. "I'll miss you, Axel."_

_He smiled looking down at her with her still hugging him. "I'll miss you too."_

------------------------

"Axel. Did I keep my promise?" I asked.

"What?" Axel said popping out of his trance by the window.

"The promise I made when you went away to work with Larxene and Marluxia. Did I keep it?"

Axel stood up and walked over to me. He plopped down on the feathery bed next to me. "Yes. If there was someone who didn't keep a promise then, it would be me."

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

"You kept him safe and didn't let anything happen to him. But I told you that you only had to do it until I got back then I would to the rest. Right after I got back, he found out about Sora…" Axel looked down closing his eyes.

"You didn't mean for it to happen. Don't beat yourself up so much. You weren't the one who told him," I said leaning my head on his shoulder.

"I still wish I could have saved him," he said resting his head on top of mine.

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Thanks everybody for reading! I didn't have to baby-sit today so I got to update early. Yay! Any who…feel free to right what you think will happen in future chapters. I want to see if you guys have good or correct suspicions. I may tell you if you are correct, I may not. D Anyway, thanks for reading. I have to come up with what to put in the next update. I usually come up with it while I am trying to fall asleep at night. Ok, so it might be a while for the next one. Thanks to everybody for the reviews.


	9. Missions

Chapter 9! Sorry it's shorter. I don't own any thing but Raene.

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I awoke to the quiet hum of voices from outside. I had awoken to these voices almost every day since I lived here. They were the voices of the world's people. They lived their quiet, unnoticed lives unbothered by us Nobodies. They rarely came outside, but when morning came, they opened their windows to greet the dark morning and a new day.

I opened my eyes to greet the morning. I found myself in my queen-size four-poster bed snuggled in my large, white, feathery quilt. _How did I get here? _I thought to myself. Last night came back to you. You had fallen asleep, leaning on Axel's shoulder. _He must have carried you back to your room and tucked you in _You figured.

I threw the quilt off of me and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. My feet touched cold marble and I looked down. My shoes and socks were gone. I looked at my hands. My gloves were gone too. I also noticed that I wasn't wearing my cloak, just my pants ands shirt. I looked down at my pale toes, which never really saw any sunlight. I wiggled them. They were the only part of my feet that I could see. Everything else, like my heels and such were covered by my large, baggy black pants.

I stood up and walked to the window. My room was on the south side of the castle. The main entrance was on the east side. Below my window was a large, dark street leading straight up from the center of the city to the cliff that dropped down forever. _Why didn't they put the main entrance here? _You thought. It made a lot more since to put it here on the south side then on the east side where the street that led up to it was only a few feet across.

Hey, it wasn't my construction plans, so I didn't think anymore on the subject. I turned to see the rest of my clothes hanging over the foot of my bed. I sat down and pulled on my shoes and socks. Then I slipped the tight gloves over my thin fingers. Lastly I threw the large, leather cloak over my head and made my way to Axel's room.

As I walked, I pondered more on what happened as Axel left on that mission a year ago. The day after he left, I found a note in my bedroom from Axel. In it he told me that I wasn't going to be able to see Kairi or any visions of her for a while. He explained that she was going to lose memories along with Sora. He said that he had a plan but he couldn't say much in the letter. All he told me was that Kairi would gain her memories back and that I could see her again. When I read it, I thought about the last vision I had had.

It was of Kairi and Sora. Sora had just locked Kingdom Hearts along with some King and Riku, their friend inside. They met up with each other. The ground below their feet started to slowly separate them. They said some last parting words. He promised to come back for her. She arrived back on the island that she lived on and found a carving of a boy and a girl in the cave they played in all the time. Sora had carved a paupu fruit in between them. She cried and then carved another one so that it looked as if they were both giving each other one. The vision was kind of confusing since they were mostly just flashes.

Axel said that I needed to hold onto that memory, that vision, so I wouldn't be sad.

Before I knew it, I was at Axel's door on the east side of the castle. I knocked and waited for an answer. No one said anything.

"'Alright, sleepy head. You better be dressed because I'm coming in," you spoke poking your head in the door.

The room was empty. The bed was made, which wasn't a surprise since he didn't sleep. I closed the door and teleported to the main lobby. Nobody.

Then to the training room. Nobody.

I spent an hour checking all the rooms including bedrooms. Nobody.

I teleported back to the main lobby and sat down at the base of the two grand marble staircases. _Where is everybody?_

I slapped myself on the forehead and drowned myself in a portal. There was one room I hadn't checked. I arrived in front of the door leading into the most center room in the whole castle. I politely knocked on the door. A booming voice ushered me in.

I stepped through the door at the base of someone's chair and walked to the center of the room. Xemnas was sitting in his chair directly in front of the door.

"Seraph Of Mortality, you're late!" He said with his deep voice.

"Yeah, kiddo. What took you so long?" Xigbar asked in his cocky voice.

"We thought you would have been here like an hour ago," Luxord added.

"I'm sorry for being late, Superior," I spoke keeping my eyes on the ground, ignoring everyone else in the room.

"Well, no matter then. Take a seat," he spoke sounding bored.

I shot my head up in surprise. "A seat, sir!"

"Did I stutter? Of course a seat!"

"Where?" I had never been asked to take a seat in the meeting chamber before.

"Anywhere!" He yelled getting annoyed.

I yelped and teleported into a chair within a tenth of a second. I looked down at my feet and saw at the ground the words _The Cloaked Schemer_ written in the shiny marble at the floor.

I looked back up to see every member staring at me. I sat quiet and Xemnas started to talk. I looked around the room. Xemnas, Xigbar, Xaldin, Saïx, Luxord, and Demyx were all the in the room. Axel was nowhere to be found.

"Mission time! Ok, first Xaldin," Xemnas spoke. He threw a small clear orb at Xaldin who caught it with no effort. "Inside is all the information you'll need. If you have any questions you can find me in my quarters."

I raised an eyebrow. _Who all could get into his quarters? I thought Xemnas was the only one. _

"Demyx," he continued. Demyx shot his head up from looking at his fiddling thumbs. He was quite surprised that he was getting a mission. "I want you to go to this place," he spoke. He threw another orb at Demyx, who almost dropped it as it came within a catching distance of him. "I need you to negotiate with Hades. He is one of the great controllers of the Heartless. Make him see that he needs to plan his attack on the Keybearer so that, well, to our advantage, he will destroy thousands of Heartless."

"How am I supposed to negotiate without telling him of our plan, my lord?" Demyx asked.

"You'll think of something. Anyhow, Xarene will be joining you later on in this mission. But, right now, I have a special mission all her own."

I looked at him awaiting my instructions. "Xarene, you know where this Sora boy is?" I nodded. "We need you to follow him. I'm sure that King of his is soon to be helping him find out more about our kind. We need him to stay on track of destroying Heartless and not spending all of his time going after the lesser Nobodies." I nodded again. "Report back every now and inform us of his progress." He finished as you nodded. He then stood up and raised his hands dismissing us. Everyone jumped down from their seats and excited through the door.

I ran to catch up with Demyx who was quickly walking down the hall ahead of me. "Demyx! Hey, Demyx, wait up!"

He turned to my voice and waited for me to catch up. I came to his side and the both of us continued to walk in the same direction. Both of our rooms were on the same side of the castle. "What's up, Beautiful?" he asked.

I laughed under my breath. "Why do you always call me that?"

"Because it annoys you," he simply answered.

"I was wondering if you knew anything about Xemnas' private quarters. Do the other members, are they allowed in, I mean?"

He looked at me. "The older members do. I'm not allowed in, everyone but us are allowed. Stinks, doesn't it?" He laughed facing forward again.

"Yeah. So…." I said about to change the subject. "Do you know where Axel is?"

He stopped in his tracks. "Raene…" he spoke with a sort of sorrow tone to his voice.

"What? Did something happen to him?" I asked getting worried.

"Raene, Axel…he well, he's gone."

"What!" I said. My eyes growing wide with fear.

"He left me a note. He said he needed to get away. He can't have another strike against him or he's dead, literally. He said that he just needed to get away for a while."

"Why didn't he say anything to me?"

Demyx placed a hand on my lower back. "Hey, cheer up! He said not to worry and to tell you that too. He said he'll be fine. He'll be back soon, and that's his own words."

I smiled a little bit. "Did he say anything else?" I asked looking up at Demyx.

"Yeah…he told me to watch out for you." He said that and then walked away. I stood there a few minutes before walking down the hall to my room to prepare for my mission.

----------------------------------

Five cloaked figures walked up a large spiraling staircase in Xemnas' quarters.

"What's going to happen to her now that she has become a real Nobody, my lord?" one asked to the tall, broad-shouldered one in front.

"If she fades anymore into Darkness, she'll go away just like the other members who gave in too far. Nobodies live on the boarder of Darkness and Light. We can't dive in any farther than we have to the Darkness, but she is different, she can. Everyone, even Nobodies are made of half Light and half Darkness. She, on the other hand, is fated to lose that light. That void will be filled with Darkness from another."

The same one who asked the question spoke again. "So what you're saying is that she only has a matter of time before all the light is gone and the Darkness consumes her, as is her fate?"

"Precisely."

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Thanks everyone for reading. I am getting a lot of chapters done lately. Yay! Ok, so I never know when I am going out of town so don't be surprised if the next one doesn't come out for a while. Or maybe the one after the next, I don't know how many I can get done.


	10. My Old Home

"Damn!" I spoke harshly under my breath. I ran out of my room regretting my cursing. I didn't curse all the time, but when it was REALLY necessary, I did.

I ran down the hall and then decided to jump in a portal. I summoned one and appeared on the spiraling steps descending from the tower. I saw Xaldin leaning against the tower wall at the door. I was about to burst through the doors when I was stopped.

"And just where do you think you're going?" he spoke jumping from his place and landing in your path. He grabbed each of my shoulders with his large hands as a dozen Dusks appeared around us for extra security to the doors.

"Let go of me!" I said struggling out of his grasp.

"What seams to be the big rush? Shouldn't you be preparing for your mission?" He spoke releasing me causing me to fall back a few feet.

"I need to see Xemnas. And seeing as how only the older members are allowed in, I need you to go and get him," I spoke rapidly in one breath. I was really in a hurry.

"Calm down! Xemnas said he would be right back…ah, here he is," he said looking over my shoulder.

I turned to see Xemnas. "What can I do for you?" he spoke.

"Superior, I have a question about my mission. I was thinking about this. Sora awoke a couple of days ago. How am I supposed to know where he is now?" I said walking forward and bowing to show respect.

"Ah yes, I forgot to mention…Saïx took care of everything," he spoke. I gave him a confused look. "Well Roxas went away in the simulate world. Sora has to awake in the real world. Saïx went to Twilight Town. He found out that it was going to take some time for him to completely change from one world to the next. He should be awaking in an hour or so. Does that make any sense?"

I nodded. "Well, that settles that then. I guess I'll just be off." And with that I jumped into a portal and started the now long walk to Twilight Town.

Ever since Sora and his companions disconnected the worlds, they became separate. I thought it wouldn't have been so hard for us creatures who can use Darkness to travel. But, I was wrong; because of what he did, the paths between worlds, even in the Dark corridors, were now harder to travel on.

Axel had been telling me this ever since Sora disconnected them. I never traveled long distances in the past year though, so I didn't really know what he meant. Axel even tried to teach me how to sense when you were there. When you were walking in the colorful tunnel of Darkness, when to summon a portal and appear in the right place.

I concentrated really hard and then appeared in Twilight Town. I was standing at a train station. There was the end of a train pulling out through the doors and three teenagers watching it leave.

"Hayner!" I yelled running up to them.

He turned around. "Do I know you?" He said in his usual annoyed tone.

"No. But that's not the point. Do you know if a guy with spiky brown hair and a duck and a dog just got on that train?" I asked pointing to the doors that the train had just gone through.

"Umm yeah. If you were looking to speak with them, tough luck. That train was different, it's not stopping for anyone."

"It'll stop for me!" I said summoning my Keyblades. I could feel their eyes widen around me. I did a gravity-defying jump to the edge of the platform. My feet barely touched the edge before I was flying through the air again.

My feet landed on the wall of the tunnel that the trains pass through leaving the station. I bounced off of it and landed on the opposite wall, quickly making my way to the track.

I landed on the track a good hundred yards from the station from my last jump and started running off following the train. I could see it in the distance. It was a good few hundred yards ahead of me. I picked up my speed and flew across the track hoping that I would be able to use my Keyblades some how to stop the train.

Teleporting closer to the train wouldn't help me at the speed we were going. So I kept running. Sooner than expected, the train started to near a shiny pathway up ahead.

I put one Keyblade away and held the other one in front of me pointed at the train. "Stop! Freeze! Time! Anything!" I yelled crazily. None of the magic was working. I had to catch up. I was gaining on the purple train and just as I was about to jump to it, it disappeared through the light. I slammed into an invisible barrier at an alarming speed and fell back onto my butt. "Damn!" I muttered for the second time that day.

I stood up and grabbed my Keyblade, which had fallen out of my hand when I slammed into the now closed portal. I started slicing at the light, praying that it would open. For five minutes I sat there, cursing to myself and using all of my strength to try and burst through the portal.

When I was about to give up, I swung one more time at the light, and surprisingly, my Keyblade shot through. I poked my head through and looked upon the vast blackness of outer space. I summoned away my Keyblade and followed at a lightning speed along the bright green track.

I ran and ran and ran until I saw another portal up ahead. I kept my speed the same and burst through the portal. I slammed into the ground on the other side and got covered in dirt and grass.

I stood up and glanced back to the direction I came from. A twenty-foot long impact crater digging into the ground stretched from the track to where I was standing. I laughed at the fact that I had caused that. I brushed off my hood and pants.

I was on some sort of floating island. There were a few trees and a large, brick tower on the other side. There was a big person by the tower. I pulled my hood over my head and walked over to him.

He was some sort of large, talking dog; I could hear him mumbling to himself. He was either leaning against the door to the tower, trying to push it open, or listening to whatever was inside.

I coughed to get his attention. He turned. "What do you want now? Wait, you isn't one of them."

"Who are you?" I asked casually.

"Who are YOU? Wait, you're one of those Organization folks, aren'cha?" He spoke stepping closer.

"And you're a Heartless," I said placing my hands on my hips.

"Not yet, my dearie, but close," he said shaking his pointer finger in front of my face.

"Not yet? Are you planning on turning into one?"

"Not a chance! I only control them, you see?"

"Pft, YOU? Control Heartless? Don't make me laugh!" I said leaning forward in a fit of giggles.

"Ok, fine! Maybe I 'aint controllin' 'em by myself, but I gots a helper. Maleficent! I gots a debt to repay for 'er busting me out."

"Of what?"

"That stupid king sent me away and she let me out. Now, I gots to round up some Heartless to pay 'er back, you see?"

"I don't see how that's possible, seeing as how Maleficent was destroyed a year ago my the Keyblade master."

"Why does everyone keep telling me that? I know what happened to 'er! But, now she's back and together, we're gonna finish what she started; takin' over all the worlds. Ever since that no-good rotten Ansem did what he did, she was basically cornered by that key boy!"

"So Maleficent's back? Interesting…by the way, I never caught your name?"

"Pete."

"Right, so Pete, did you happen to see the Keybearer and his companions?"

"Ah, so we're not the only ones after him, eh? Looks like you Nobodies are finally stepping forward, eh?"

"Did you see him or not!"

"Yeah, I saw him. He just went into this here tower with those nimrods of his. They went to go talk to Master Yen Sid, that king's teacher. He s'posed to tell them all about you good-for-nothin' Nobodies and why they all need to be taken down!"

"Is that so?" I said summoning both my Keyblades again.

"Wh…another Keyblade wielder? How…how can some stupid Nobody possibly wield the all-powerful Keyblade?"

"You better watch your tongue, buddy or you'll be seeing these Keyblades in your nightmares!" I threatened stepping forward.

"Pft, in my nightmares?" He said shrugging, not realizing what was coming.

I then hit him in the head with one and then spun him around with the other. Before he could react to anything, I was repeatedly hitting him with both across the back, slowly pushing him to the edge of the floating island.

Before he was about to be pushed off the edge, he teleported away in a mist of black and green smoke. I then ran inside the tower, both Keyblades at hand.

I ran up the several flights of steps until I came to the large brown door. I put my ear to it and listened carefully.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy! Ah, I see you got appropriate clothing for your journey. Those seam to fit you much better," came a raspy old voice from inside the room.

"He sure did, Master! Those ladies in there said you had something for us, sir," came a second voice. It was a very strange voice but I knew it belonged to one of Sora's companions. Donald Duck who I had seen a few times in Kairi's thoughts.

"Ah, yes. Well, you three, I have here an exact replica of your former gummi ship but it is highly more efficient then your last one," came the raspy voice once more. A sound of an engine came to my ears.

"Wow! Thanks, Master Yen Sid!" The all-too-familiar voice reached my ears and a smile played across my face. _Sora._

"Garsh, I don't know what to say!" The other companion's voice, Goofy sounded in a pleased tone.

"Now, wait just a moment. I have some instructions before you continue on your quest. Because of what you did; disconnecting the worlds, the pathways are no longer there from before." A chorus of 'sighs' played through the door. "But not to worry. Special gateways will open up new pathways through your journey. But you can only unlock those gateways in a certain manner. Whenever a beam of light shoots out of your Keyblade, Sora, you must return to your gummi ship as soon as possible. A new gateway will be revealed."

"Ok. We understand, and thanks, Master Yen Sid!" Sora's voice said again.

"Are there any questions I can help you out with before you leave? I am sorry that I couldn't give you more information about the Nobodies, but is there anything that I could answer before you leave young master?"

"I think we got the gif. We'll see you around, sir," he said before the sound of someone teleporting and the start of an engine came to my ears.

I quickly teleported out side just in time to see the sight of the back of a gummi ship disappearing into the twilight sky. "Great! Now what am I going to tell Xemnas. I lost track of my mission!" I said to myself. Before I could even think of what to do I heard a menacing laugh come from up in the tower behind me. I knew that laugh. Kairi had heard it for months while she was trapped in our hometown last year as a key to open the heart of that world. _Maleficent._ I sank into a portal and secretly disappeared from the base of the tower.

"And I was thinking we should change the color of the walls in the—Raene?" Xemnas spoke as I appeared in the center of the meeting chamber.

"Superior." I said bowing.

"Well, we weren't expecting you for a while. Is something wrong?" He said leaning forward as to get in my face—which made no difference since he was a good twenty feet above me.

"I…well I found the Keyblade wielder." I said choosing the way to play this conversation carefully.

"Well?"

"Well, sir, I didn't actually get to see him. It took me a while to actually get there—to Twilight Town. He was just departing on a train when I got there. We went to a sorcerer named Yen Sid. He is King Mickey's teacher. He told them some of what their journey is supposed to be like. I'm not really sure what their task is but he told the three about Nobodies. He doesn't know much but they learned some. There was some guy who was there. He's working with Maleficent. She's back and is planning to finish what she started." I finished speaking and took a breath.

"You never saw Sora? Where is he now? How do you know all this?" He spoke resting back in his chair and placing both arms across his chest.

"I was listening to them, sir. I don't know where they are, sir. They got away."

"No problem then."

"What?"

Xemnas jumped down and gestured the other five members around him to do the same. "We know where he is for right now. We were just about to pay him a visit and were gonna catch up with you there."

"Oh…"

"Well, actually. I want to rest a bit and have Xaldin, who just returned from working on his mission a bit, to rest as well. You go on ahead and follow them. We'll be there in a few," he said smiling.

"But, sir, I don't know where—" but before you could answer you were being pushed into a portal by Xemnas and sent flying through a cloud of black.

I fell hard on my back. My eyes were closed tight from fear of falling and the pain that was now shooting through my head. "Oww…" I spoke placing my hands at my sides to push myself up. I felt cold cobblestone through my gloves. I opened my eyes and looked around.

I heard voices coming from over a rooftop next to me. I jumped up and nearly fell back over at the sight before me. I was in Radiant Garden!

From what I had briefly seen through Kairi's eyes of the outside and inside of my old home, it looked just a little bit smaller than when I used to live here. When Kairi was first brought here a year ago, she had seen the outside of the castle. It has a few collapsed walls and a few large copper pipes sticking out of the exterior. There also was a large Heartless insignia on the front but that didn't bother me when I saw it. Kairi never saw much of the inside of the castle when she was brought here so I didn't see much either.

I looked at the castle now. It had to have been a third of the original size. There was no large grand entrance anymore, no beautiful stain glass windows, no flags to show our kingdom, nothing. The castle was barely even touching the ground. Only a small brick foundation held it up now. There were several large cranes though, and they seamed to be helping to rebuild the once great castle. Long built beams pinned to the wall allowed workers to get up high and fix the details. Even though it looked like a tornado had hit it, it seamed to be fixing up.

Out in the distance I could see the outskirts. The waterfalls weren't there anymore and neither were the large gardens that gave this place its name. Now the whole horizon was covered in tall, jagged glacier cliffs. In between were large, deep valleys that were deserted of the long-flowing rivers and streams that used to give this place life.

I looked down and saw a small portion of the original village. I was near the old town square where there was the only life in this place. Shops were up and running and people buzzed around going about their lives. I didn't recognized many of them. They all seemed new to me.

I spotted Sora and his companions heading out of the town square and down a long flight of stairs that led around the village in the castle's direction. I followed at a distance, not wanting to be seen. I didn't have a good view of Sora since I was trying to be secretive.

I came down the stairs just as Sora swiped through a Dusk with his Keyblade. I had my head poked around the corner. I could see more newly built buildings coming up. Yuffie jumped down from somewhere and started to talk with Sora. They shared a few laughs as I watched from my hiding spot.

Yuffie was much older than the last time I had seen her. She was small built, but the maturity in her face showed that she was in her early twenties. The last time I had seen her was the first day I met the Organization when Axel and Roxas took me to Traverse Town. Yuffie was around twelve or thirteen then. Her purple shaded eyes sparkled as she laughed at something Sora said. She ran around the corner and Sora and the others followed her.

I ran up too and saw as they entered through a big wooden door into one of the houses. I peered in the window and saw a group of people gathered around a computer. Cid who looked the same as the last time I saw him but with some wrinkles to his face sat there. When Sora came in he turned along with Squall and Aerith.

I had learned that Squall was now going by Leon for some reason. He was around fifteen last time I saw him and so was Aerith. They both smiled at him. They looked the same too only older.

I started to pay attention to Sora at this moment. He was still the same as the last time I had saw him in Kairi's vision. Kairi on the other hand, when I last saw her was completely different. She had always had her hair short for the past few years and I had always kept mine at the same shoulder length. She had since grown her hair back out. She was much older looking all over, her face and her everywhere else. Sora, of course his face seemed older and he had grown a good four inches in the past year. Roxas was always tall and Sora was always short. Now they would have been the same height. I looked into Sora's face as the turned around to talk with all his friends around him. When I saw him, Roxas' face popped into my head and it made me remember how much I missed him. His eyes seamed to have gotten a bit darker but maybe I was just seeing things.

All of a sudden Squ—I mean—Leon came up to the door. I jumped out of the way just as he came out and started heading further into the collection of buildings. I followed him by jumping onto a roof and dashing across to where Leon was heading. He headed down a tunneled stairway on a high-set part of the village. There was a second stairway that led up to where the tunnel started. I stood on the ledge at the top of both staircases, crouched watching as Leon disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel.

Suddenly, I heard fast approaching footsteps coming towards me. I quickly shot my head over in the direction they were coming from. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were quickly running up the cobblestone stairway towards the tunnel. I quickly back flipped off the ledge and caught hold of it by one hand. The footsteps past by and echoed down the tunnel.

I pulled myself up and back onto the ledge. I glanced down the tunnel to see the tail of a duck pass by the wall. I slowly tiptoed down the stairs. Making no noise at all. I came to the end of the stair and glanced around the corner. The four of them were looking out into the distance at a large formation of some sort. They were starting to talk when someone tapped me on my shoulder from behind.

I had been trained to remain as quiet as possible when needed. I spun around silently, not even the chains on my cloak jingled. There was a portal open behind me a hand belonging to one of the Organization members was sticking out motioning me to follow with it pointer finger.

I stepped inside and found myself on a large brick wall. There were six other members around me. I glanced at their body sizes and identified all of them as Xemnas, Xigbar, Xaldin, Saïx, Demyx, and Luxord. I was once again, saddened at Axel's bony armed being wasn't here.

"What are we doing here exactly?" I asked Xigbar who was next to me. I was on the far right side from our position. It was in order: Xigbar, Xaldin, Xemnas in the middle, Demyx, and Saïx and Luxord who had the same body shape on the left side.

"Shhh, just let Xemnas do the talking for right now," he said wrapping an around my shoulder and covering my mouth with his hand. All of us disappeared into portals for a moment.

I heard Xemnas' voice call out. Then Luxord. Then Xemnas again. They all said just a few words. There was the sound of swords, gunshots, and shouting coming from somewhere in front of the dark colors in font of me. I wanted to move and see what was going on but Xigbar had a tight grip on me. His right arm was still over my shoulder and covering my mouth. His other arm was wrapped around my waist like a snake. My back was pressed against his chest and he was holding me still.

When the noises stopped, Xemnas spoke again. A chorus of laughs surrounded me and we all appeared back on the wall. Xigbar had tightened my hood to cover my face more, let go of me, and gripped a handful of my cloak on my back in a matter of a second. I looked down off the wall and through the darkness of my hood I could see Sora, Donald, and Goofy gathered at the end of the tunnel that they were just in.

"Organization XIII!" Goofy called out hysterically. The three nodded in agreement. Sora shouted some sort of threat up to us that Xemnas simply made a sarcastic remark to reply with. All the other members laughed but I stayed quiet.

Xigbar lowered his hand from my back to the side of my waist and whispered in my ear, "You're coming with me, sweet cheeks." He pulled me into a portal as everyone else did too. The two of us appeared down where Sora and his companions were. Xigbar took his hand off of my waist and pushed me off to the side. I stood near the outer wall of the tunnel and waited as Xigbar and Sora started to talk.

"Move!" Sora shouted threatening his Keyblade at Xigbar.

"Now, come on. That's not very nice. You don't even give me a chance to speak.

"We're gonna make you move then!" He shouted back.

"Right. What are you gonna do? Throw that key at me? Hit me over the head with that shield? Poke me with that wand? I guess those tactics would work against us if we were somebody else, but it won't. Me and this little lady right here; seeing as how we're with the Organization, it's not gonna be that easy," Xigbar said pulling me closer to him. When he released me I stepped back hoping that the next time he wouldn't be able to reach me.

"Pft! You two seam pretty tough by the way you talk, but you guys are probably just a bunch of wimps since you never fight! You only let those lesser Nobodies do your dirty work!"

"HEY!" I shouted out not knowing where it came from. Xigbar turned to look at me. I could see his surprised look from behind his hood. Sora too looked surprise. He stood up straight and backed up a step. His eyes got wide and he raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, Rae, I think he doesn't understand our crowd. You want us to remind you of how tough it is!" Xigbar said motioning me to his side after an awkward moment of silence.

Sora got a very annoyed look upon his great features. His eyes narrowed into slits and his eyebrows lowered over a lot of his blue color.

"LOOK RAE! Ha! If it isn't our old friend HA!" He said grabbing me by the shoulder and slamming me into his side. I was being suffocated. Xigbar started laughing. "Rae, he used to give me that same look HA! Man, that's good."

I was getting annoyed at this point. I had looked at Sora and only saw Roxas. I started to summon my Keyblades to hit Xigbar over the head with them. Unfortunately, he noticed and grabbed hold of my wrists. "No, no, no. We wouldn't want to reveal one of your secrets now would we?" The tension in my hands went away and I relaxed a bit. "That's right. We wouldn't want to show him those or your precious face. No, that would remind him far too much. Ha, that's funny, because I could be talking either way. If you revealed yourself to him, well you could remind him of her or if you did that you could remind, well, you know, of yourself. That's funny!" Xigbar said in a fit of giggles.

"What's up with you? You think you can go and confuse me my saying all this random crazy stuff? It's not working!" Sora said.

"Now why would we wanna do that?" Xigbar said pulling me once again to his side. He wrapped his arm around my waist and said as we were sinking into a portal, "Be a good boy now!"

Xigbar and I appeared in the chamber where all the members were sitting on tall marble chairs. "That was some work, Xigbar! Very good! But you even confused me a bit." Xemnas spoke motioning Xigbar to his chair.

"Well, simply, if Xarene showed her face to Sora, he might see Kairi. Or Roxas might see through him to herself." He went on and on like this but I had already left the room and was on the tower looking up at the moon.

I looked out for what seamed like hours. I was thinking of the future and what was going to happen to us. Sora was very powerful, and with his determination, he could destroy all the Nobodies.

I sighed trying to think of something else. Then something hit me. My best friend wasn't here. And I really needed to talk to him. "Axel…where are you?" I spoke out to the night sky.


	11. Where is He

Hey everybody. Sorry for the late update. Enjoy chapter 11!

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"Come on! Summer vacation has started and you won't even leave the schoolyard!" She yelled over to her friend. He stood in the schoolyard stiff as a board.

"Did you hear me? You promised we would go to the creek!" She yelled again. Her fiery red hair blew in the summer wind. It whipped around her face shading her deep colored eyes.

"I'm coming!" He yelled suddenly hearing his friend. He walked over to her on the single paved street in their whole city. "But do we have to go to the creek?" He asked nervously.

"Aww, are you scared or something?" She teased pinching his cheek.

"NO! I just would rather go somewhere else," he spoke folding his hands behind his back.

"Oh!" She spoke realizing what she had done. She'd known him since they were born, twelve years, but she still forgets his greatest fear. "Oh, I am so sorry, I…I," but she didn't get to finish.

"Hey, no problem. I need to get over my fear of the water, anyhow. I mean it was like eight years ago right? I mean, they wouldn't want me to be afraid of the water just because of what happened to them." His voice lowered and he started to walk along the paved road to the creek.

"Hey, we don't have to go if you don't want to. We could go back to my house and hang out. If you wanna try the creek, we could try later. I mean, we have all summer to go, right?" She said running to catch up with him. She pulled the books in her arms closed to her chest and mustered up a sad puppy dog face.

He looked at her and smiled. "Ok! Let's go to your place! I'll race you there!" He said taking off at top speed.

She just laughed and continued to walk down the road at a normal pace. He stopped and walked back to her side. "Tomorrow we can hang out at my place. My grandma or grandpop can take us out for ice cream and maybe we could go and see a movie too!"

"Sounds great!" she said smiling.

He looked at her and saw happiness spreading across her beautiful features. "Come, my lady. I shall carry your books and be your escort." He spoke grabbing the books out of her hands and placing them with his. He took all the books in one arm and wrapped the other around her shoulder.

Axel mused from his daydreaming as he walked through the white halls of the castle. I just wish I could remember her name. He thought as he made his way up, yet another staircase. Why do I always choose to walk instead of teleport? He asked himself. He answered his own question with the simple sentence, Because you're skinnier than a twig and need to add some muscle to these bones.

He thought of what had happened over the past week and began to regret what he had done. He had left Raene alone with the rest of the Organization without even saying good-bye.

He knew what he had to do now. He had to get the facts straight. If what he had seen yesterday was true, then he had to confront Xemnas. The vision of some of the Organization members walking through the private part of the castle. He had seen the inside of that place before. He had followed Luxord in once without the gambler knowing and had seen a small part of Xemnas' quarters before leaving. He knew only about a few rooms.

He had to get to the one room that would let him find who he was looking for. He had gone through a portal there and had no idea where it was actually. He had to go through the doors on the tower and make his way to that room.

If what the members had said in his vision were real and not just crazy daydreams from lack of rest, he would have to stop it from happening, no matter what.

He finally made his way to the Meeting Chamber and walked in. No one was there. He stepped out and then finally decided to teleport. He appeared at the top of the staircase leading down the tower to Xemnas' part of the castle.

He saw Xigbar talking to the Sniper Nobodies who were guarding the door. Axel ran quickly down the stairs. Xigbar was just quick enough to pull out one of his guns and shoot Axel straight in the chest. Axel flew backwards but immediately jumped back up again.

"Well Axel I can see that you're in a hurry. Is there anything I can do that would please you?" He asked mockingly.

"Yeah! You could get out of the way! I need to see Xemnas!" Axel yelled back.

"What is it with you two redheads wanting to always see Xemnas? Aren't we other members good enough for you?" Xigbar said acting hurt.

"Where is he!" Axel said busting through the group of Nobodies and swiping their heads clear off with his weapon. Xigbar was taken back, but he didn't get to mourn much over his servants because Axel was now running inside the doors.

"Look, Axel. I know you're old enough, being eighteen and all, to come into Xemnas' private quarters but I can't let you in here; it's orders." He said jogging up to Axel not really trying that hard to stop him.

"Look, Xigbar! I know something bad is gonna happen to her, so I have to talk to him right now! Nothing, not even you, is gonna stop me!" Axel yelled running through the halls.

Xigbar followed, still not trying to stop him. Axel finally made his way into a room. There were several grave-like monuments all around the room. Some were red and some were glowing blue. The ones that were blue had a sort of open door on the top of them.

From the way that Xigbar and Axel came in the room, it looked as though they were on the top of a pyramid of graves. The graves were on steps heading to the door that they just entered through.

Xigbar walked to the other side of the room at the entrance to another room. He was standing at the widest part of the graves. Axel stayed and looked at the graves. He read the first one. The Freeshooter. It was blue and had a portal on the top. On the base of the grave was an engraving of two guns, Xigbar's guns.

The grave across the isle in the middle of the room was also blue. It had an engraving of six sharp lances. It said The Whirlwind Lancer on it.

On the step below these were four more graves, two on each side of the isle. On one side were two that were both red and had no portal. On them read The Chilly Academic and The Silent Hero. On the graves were the weapons of two members who were no longer alive, Vexen and Lexaeus. Across the isle was another red grave belonging to Zexion and another blue one belonging to Saïx.

"Xigbar, what is this place exactly?" Axel asked after observing those six very carefully.

"You're in Proof of Existence. It's a place that literally proves that we exist or existed." Xigbar walked up to him standing over Vexen's grave. "It's a shame what happened to them," he said reminding Axel of what had happened at Castle Oblivion.

"Yeah. So how come Superior's grave isn't here?" Axel said ignoring his memories of what had happened.

"Xemnas doesn't need one."

"What about Raene?"

"She's not a true member even though she has finally become a real Nobody." Axel nodded and continued walking around the other graves. "Xemnas has the element of Nothingness but that can also mean Everything in our book."

"What do you mean?" Axel asked.

"Xemnas can control all of our elements if he chose. Nothingness, Space, Wind, Ice, Earth, Darkness, Moon, Fire, Water, Time, Nature, Thunder, Light."

"Our elements. What about Raene's?"

"Raene is Destiny and Fate."

"Roxas is the Key of Destiny though. How is it that those are her elements? Wait, they aren't even real elements."

"Hey, I don't give them their elements. Don't question me!" Xigbar said raising his arms in his air.

"What's the difference between fate and destiny? They're the same thing aren't they?" Axel said turning around from Larxene's grave.

"Destiny is what should happen. Fate is what's going to happen. An example is that we Nobodies are destined to gather hearts to become whole again. But we are fated to fade back into Darkness."

"Oh. If that is our fate, why do you guys continue to gather hearts?"

"Xemnas doesn't believe that that prophecy will happen. He thinks that he can do against the prophecy and become whole. We just go with him trying our hardest."

"Oh. So—what do these doors on the graves do?" Axel asked changing the subject.

"I think you know. They simply take us where the members are, no matter what." Axel smiled to himself.

"So that means if I were to let's say jump into my portal over here—" Axel said walking over to his grave below Vexen's and Lexaeus', "I could just reappear back in this room, right?"

Xigbar nodded. Axel tested it and jumped in the door above his shiny blue grave. A few seconds later he appeared in the middle of the room.

"Neat-o!" He said childishly. "So, where exactly is Raene?" Axel said once again changing the subject.

"Xarene? Hmmm…where is she again? Oh yeah, she's on a mission," Xigbar answered.

"Oh. So what kind of mission is it?" Axel asked.

"She's supposed to be tracking Sora down. She's just following him and making sure he is destroying as much Heartless as possible."

"She's following Sora, eh?" Axel said slowly sliding over to the opposite side of the room from his grave. Roxas' grave sat still next to two red graves belonging to Marluxia and Larxene, the traitors. "So if I were to, let's say, jump into Roxas' portal here, I would appear wherever they are?" Before Xigbar could do anything, Axel had jumped into the blue door above the two crisscrossing Keyblades on Roxas' grave.

Xigbar laughed to himself as Axel popped back in the room. "What was that? I just appeared inside a big white egg, bubble, thing! What was that!" Axel said.

"Roxas may be a part of Sora, but Xemnas decided to rearrange his portal. It's sends whoever jumps into it, to the last place Roxas was real. He did this in case the enemy got here and were trying to find Sora."

"Damn!" Axel yelled. Axel jumped into Demyx's portal and appeared in a dark cave. He was surrounded by mist and fog. Axel teleported back to the Proof of Existence and jumped into all the other members' portals finding that they all are on missions. He tried Saïx's and luckily appeared somewhere within the castle.

"Saïx!" Axel yelled across the large empty room. Saïx was kneeling with his head bowed to the moon outside a large window.

Saïx sighed and turned to greet whoever who had interrupted him from his peace.

"What do you—Axel!" What are you doing here?" Saïx said noticing that Axel was in Xemnas' private quarters.

"Never mind that! I have to ask you a question." Axel said running up to Saïx as the Lunar Diviner stood up and sighed.

"Remind me to interrogate you on why you are here later. What's your question?" Saïx said smiling.

"Where's Xemnas?" Axel asked simply.

"Why do ask?" Saïx questioned.

"Look, I think Raene is in danger and I need to know where she is and Xemnas is the only one who can tell me where she is!" Axel said in one quick breath.

"Hahaha," he laughed. "I'll answer your question if you answer mine."

"Shoot."

"How come you can have so many feelings?" Saïx asked turning back to the large window.

"Excuse me?" Axel said.

"We Nobodies can have some feelings like being angry, happy, or sad. But you have more feelings. You, Roxas, Naminé, and Xarene all have more feelings."

"I don't know. And what do you mean we have more feelings?" Axel asked.

"You all have more complex feelings like being nervous, having regret, or— love," Saïx said smiling as he turned around to Axel again.

"Love?" Axel said raising an eyebrow.

"Love. You love—" but Saïx didn't get to finish.

"Don't say it!" Axel threatened.

"You don't even let me finish. I was going to say that you love your friends more than anything, right?" Axel nodded. "You would do anything to save them, right?" Axel nodded again. "You would even let yourself die for them?"

"If I cared so much for someone, they probably do for me too. And if so, they wouldn't want me to be gone if they were to live," Axel said protesting.

"Neither would you want to live if they died?" Saïx questioned. Axel nodded. "Why do you care so much for them? And not for Demyx and Larxene?"

"What do you mean?" Axel asked confused.

"Those two are closer to your age than those other three. They are only a year younger and not THREE."

"I just—Roxas makes me feel like I have a heart."

"What?" Saïx asked now being the confused one.

"Sora is so pure and that is why he can wield the Keyblade. Roxas is just as pure, being around him makes me happy."

Saïx snorted a laugh. "Shut up!" Axel said.

"Continue." Saïx said stopping his laughing.

"Naminé is like a motherly figure to us all. She always was there for us."

"What about Xarene?" Saïx asked.

"Raene! Her name is RAENE! And I just really care for her," Axel said not saying that she was just as important as any of his friends.

"What is about her that makes you want to do drastic things for her?" Saïx asked.

"The second she got here I saw the sadness in her eyes. They just said that she needed to be held. I mean she just was taken away, thanks to you, and she needed someone to be there for her." Axel spoke and smiled.

"You never really answered my question."

"What was your question?"

"Why do you younger members have more feelings? I mean you don't remember your past lives. How is it that you, Roxas, Naminé, Demyx, and Larxene, not Raene because she is different, have those feelings if you don't remember them?" Saïx asked annoyed.

"I—guess we just were born not having to remember them—we just expected them and we grew used to what they are like," Axel answered truthfully.

"How is it that Marluxia loved?" Saïx asked changing the subject.

"What?" Axel said confused.

"Don't tell me you didn't see it. Marluxia loved Larxene. Everyone could see it but her."

"I don't know. He just did," Axel said not really caring for it.

"I mean, they we're four years apart," Saïx said.

"So?" Axel said.

"I think it's weird that Marluxia was twenty for like fourteen years. He'd known Larxene since she was two. He practically raised her. Finally she turned sixteen and he started growing again. If they were still alive, she would be seventeen and he would twenty one."

"So what if he loved someone of a four year age difference? It doesn't matter!" Axel said getting annoyed.

"Fine, let's get off this conversation," Saïx said seeing Axel's anger level rising quickly. Axel nodded trying to be patient so he could find out where Xemnas was. "How are you doing with remembering?"

Axel answered truthfully. "I'm seeing visions of ones when I was younger. Like twelve years old."

"Do you remember anything like names?" Saïx asked.

"No. I still don't know my name or hers," Axel answered.

"It's a shame when you can't remember someone that is so important to you, eh?" Saïx said.

"Why is that? She was in like every memory of mine. I just feel awful about not remembering her." Axel lowered his head.

"Do you know _who_ she is? Not name, but who?" Saïx asked leaning against a wall.

Axel walked over to the wall opposite of him and sat down on the floor with his back resting against it. "She's like my best friend. I'd known her my whole life," Axel said just loud enough for Saïx to hear across the room.

"Do you remember any memories from when you were older?" Saïx asked.

"I've seen some, but I can't remember any at the moment."

"What a shame. So you wanted to know where Xemnas is?" Saïx asked.

"Yeah!" Axel said remembering why he was here.

"Ok, go back to Proof of Existence and go out the door at the wide part of the room. Follow through and just keep going through doors until you get to a really large elevator. Take it down. Count to ten seconds then jump off as it keeps going down. I can tell by the look on your face that you think I'm crazy. But trust me, there's a secret platform that you'll land on. He's there."

Axel quickly teleported back to Proof of Existence. Xigbar was kneeling in front of Lexaeus' grave and was—crying! Axel tiptoed over to the door not to disturb him while he mourned for his friend. While he did so he remembered that the first six members all knew each other before the Organization was founded.

Axel ran through the door and made his way to where Saïx said Xemnas was. Sure enough, there was the Superior standing on the platform. It was bare except for him. It was just a floating, white, 10 by 10 floor.

Axel landed on the platform and Xemnas turned to him. His eyes widened to see the fiery boy in his private quarters.

"Before you question me, Xemnas, I am sorry for intruding on this part of the castle. But I must ask you a question." Axel spoke not even giving Xemnas a chance to say a word.

"Oookayy. What do you want to know?" Xemnas said raising his eyebrows.

"I saw something, sir. It was like a vision. And in it I saw you and the other members, I don't think Demyx was there, but the other members were. You all were talking and you all said something about Raene. You said that she was going to disappear soon because she was a Nobody now. Something about her loosing the light left in her heart and it being replaced by darkness from another. What does that mean?" Axel said quickly.

"Calm down, Axel! I think you haven't been getting enough sleep lately."

"I don't sleep. We can, but we don't need to," Axel protested.

"Maybe it would do you some good to try and sleep," Xemnas answered.

"No! I need you to answer me about the vision I had!" Axel yelled annoyed.

"You're just seeing things, Axel. Nothing is going to happen to Raene. She's fine. She's on a mission and should be back to update us on Sora's progress later tomorrow. You should go and sleep," Xemnas said summoning a portal and walking Axel over to it with his hand on Axel's back.

"Are you telling me the truth, Xemnas? It was just a dream, it wasn't real? She's not going to disappear?" Axel said stopping himself from moving to the portal.

"Have I ever lied to you, Axel?" Xemnas asked smiling.

"Yes," Axel answered matter-of-factly.

"Hmph. Well, I'm not lying to you now. She's safe and there is nothing that is going to cause her to loose her light. You really look like you need some sleep, Axel. Why don't you go and get some sleep and then wait for Raene to return tomorrow, ok?" Xemnas said smiling and motioning over to the still open portal.

"Um…ok." Axel started to walk over to the portal. Just as he was about to step through it, he turned around on his heel and quickly spun around. "If I find out that you're lying, Xemnas, you'll be sorry you were ever created!" Axel said before stepping backwards and into his large white room. He jumped into his bed and fell fast asleep hoping for dreams of the girl from his memories to flood his mind.

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Thanks for reading guys! Hope you liked it! Chapter 12 should be out in the next week unless I'm too busy. R&R please.


	12. Presents

Hey guys! Here's chapter 12! The title is kinda stupid for this one, but I didn't know what else to call it.

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I had been following Sora for almost two whole days through outer space and through this jungle-like slash snowy world. Apparently an old friend of Sora's needed help getting one of HIS friend's into an army. The only problem was that his friend was a girl and had to pretend to be a boy.

So here I was, following Sora, Donald, Goofy, and their friend Mulan who was going by Ping. Some big Heartless controller was on top of a really REALLY tall mountain and had just sent a large amount of flying Heartless down towards Sora and his companions.

The four of them were fighting crazily and I was standing behind a large rock off to the side watching. Another wave of Heartless came down and noticed me hiding and started flying over to me.

I jumped out and summoned my Keyblades and began to smack away at them. They began to cover me like a large shell while other flew around buzzing and blocking me from any thing outside of them. All of the Heartless that were attacking Sora and the others came over to me also.

I was beginning to have difficulty in defending myself. I space appeared between the Heartless and I could see Sora rushing over urging the others to follow.

"Come on guys! Someone's in trouble! We gotta help!" Sora yelled and he began to swing away at the outermost Heartless.

I saw him coming and realized that he can't see me. I angled my Keyblades so that a large wave of light erupted from them and destroyed all the Heartless around me. I used the light as a cover to teleport up to a cliff up above from where I just was.

"That was weird," Sora said stopping right next to where I had just been. Worried that they would see me, since I was just a few feet above them, I climbed up a little bit just as Sora looked up to watch as the several dozen hearts flew up to the sky.

I watched secretly as a large amount of events happened within a matter of minutes. A few other people came into the pass and were carrying a cannon in their arms. Mulan, or Ping, grabbed it and shot directly at the summit of the mountain, causing a large avalanche. The snow buried the remaining Heartless and the leader. Some captain of the army they were in, came up and somehow found out that Mulan was a girl. I'm not sure how he did since I wasn't really listening. The captain left with the other soldiers, leaving just the four and a small pet dragon in the cold.

I continued to watch as the leader of the Heartless popped out of the snow and headed to a large city in the distance. The four of them ran after him and I followed, bored to death, back through the mountains down to the city.

I climbed up onto a building in the city and watched as Sora and his companions defeated the leader and were praised. Finally, a large beam of light extended from Sora's Keyblade and he set out on his way.

I figured it would take a day for Sora to get to the next world so I teleported home. I appeared in the meeting chamber. Without thinking I jumped up to Zexion's seat, which I had declared as my usual seating arrangement, with my eyes closed. I turned my head in the direction of Xemnas and opened my eyes. But I immediately shot my eyes over to a large amount of red hair across the room.

"Axel," I whispered so quiet that no one could hear me. He smiled back and waved slightly keeping his hands in his lap. I turned back to Xemnas smiling.

"How has the mission been going, Xarene?" He asked.

"Superior, it's been going well. Sora was able to destroy several hundreds of Heartless. He even killed yet another leader of the Heartless. And sir, I made sure Sora didn't pass up the chance to kill even one Heartless," I answered.

"Very good, Seraph of Mortality," Xemnas said. "Now we can continue with the other missions—Xaldin?" Xemnas said turning to the large bodied man off to the side.

Xaldin had his hood pulled over his head for some reason and had his arms, as always, crossed over his chest—since he was sitting he couldn't have them behind his back. "He's doing well, sir. He's slowly turning against her. He recently locked all of his friends in the dungeon, thanks to me," Xaldin said with a large smiling showing from behind his hood.

"And Demyx?" Superior asked turning to the musician.

Demyx was slouched over on the right side of his chair. His elbow was on the large armrest and his chin was resting in his palm. His other hand was drumming a small tune with his fingers on the other armrest.

"Huh? What?" He asked, stopping the drumming and raising his head.

"Aaaaaaare yooooooooou reeeeeeeeadyyyyyyyy foooooor yooooooooour miiiiiiiission, nuuuuumberrrrrrr niiiiiiine?" Xemnas said VERY slowly.

"Oh, yeah! Definitely! Total piece of cake," he said waving his hand down seaming all too confident in himself. He, once again, placed his elbow on the armrest and rested his chin in his hand. He winked at me with a cheesy grin.

I laughed quietly and shook my head to myself as Xemnas continued to speak. "Ok then—well, I suppose we're through, then. Xarene—" Xemnas said turning to me again.

"Yes, sir?" I asked quietly.

"Sora is on his way to the world where Xaldin is working. Come here around eleven tomorrow morning. By then I will have decided whether I need you to accompany him on this mission or if you could stay. Understand?" He said. I nodded. "Alright, then. I'll see you all tomorrow at that time."

Everyone jumped down from their chairs except Axel and I. Once everyone had left the room, I jumped across the room completely and landing on Axel's chair next to him (the chairs were large enough for three people to sit side-by-side). I wrapped my arms around his thin body, crushing him.

"I missed you soooo much!" I said crazily and releasing him.

"I missed you too. Hey—why don't you go back to your room and I'll be there in a few minutes, ok? I have to go and get something real quick. Then we can talk, alright?" he said smiling.

I nodded and teleported to my room. I threw off my cloak and stretched. I walked over to my bed and pulled out a large white box from underneath. I pulled off the top of the box and looked inside.

It was a private box that no one knew about. In here, I kept private journals and such that I didn't want even Naminé to read. I shuffled around inside, just looking at the contents since I hadn't been inside of this box in a long time. My gaze fell upon a drawing that I had made when I was thirteen.

I was bored that day and I usually just made random sketches that I colored and cherished. I never really knew what I was drawing until I was done drawing it. I think the reason I had drawn this was because it had been seven years since I had seen Kairi for real. I was only six when I was taken away and having been away one more year than that made me sad.

I was a simple picture of Kairi and me holding hands. I was on the right side of the picture and she on the left. We were holding our heart pendants with our other hands. For some reason I had drawn us having full color hearts; mine was all black and hers was all white.

We were wearing the outfits that we had worn that year. I had on black shoes that were folded over to reveal the white inside. They had white laces too. I had on a white skirt that was pretty short but I had on white leggings underneath. I had a light blue shirt that only had one long sleeve. The other side of my shirt was just a thin strap. My hair was kinda shorter than usual back then, but it still wasn't as short as Kairi's though.

Kairi was wearing a white tank top with a thin, short sleeve, jacket that came down to her bellybutton. She had a longer skirt on than mine. It was a dark shade of purple and went down to her knees. There was a black and a white stripe heading down the side. She had on a pair of purple sandals that were the same color as her skirt. Her hair was short and had black and white berets on one side.

We both had a vacant expression on our faces. Our dark blue eyes were wide and staring off towards whoever would be looking at the drawing. The background was blank except for a few blotches of grey mist adorning behind us.

All of a sudden I heard the door behind me open. I placed the drawing back inside and hid the box back under the bed in about half a second. I spun around expecting Axel, but surprisingly found Demyx standing there, leaning against the doorframe.

"Well, don't you look good?" Demyx said in a slightly cocky voice.

I looked down at myself to see what he was talking about. My pants were no longer a pitch-black color. They were now a dark grey color from over use. I had been wearing this same outfit for more than a year. Since I hadn't grown that much in the past year, there was no need to go downstairs and get better fitting clothes. My shirt had stayed the same dark color, though. The sleeves didn't go over my shoulders, but rather hung off of them. All together, the tight shirt and over-baggy pants didn't go well together.

"What the hell are you talking about, Demi?" I asked annoyed.

"You just look so good. And—did you just give me a nickname, Beautiful?" He said walking forward still using his cocky voice.

"Demyx—I've been calling you _Demi_ since we were little. And why do you call me that still? I know I just asked you that a while ago, but I would like it much better if you kept calling me _Hothead_." I said crossing my arms over my chest.

"Fine—the reason I call you that is because I really DO think you are beautiful. Every time I see you, I want you more and more," Demyx said shyly. He leaned into my face. My eyes widened. "I love you, Raene. I always have, I've never wanted anything more than how much I want you."

I leaned in closer and parted my lips slightly. Demyx smiled slightly and followed with preparing to kiss me. Right as I was going to kiss him, I spoke, "Wow. The second smooth-talker not only is a good musician, but is also a good actor," I said closing my lips and pulling away slightly.

Demyx smiled and spoke as he too, pulled back, "I guess I am a good actor, heh?" He turned to leave. He got to the door and was about to step out when he turned and said one more thing before leaving and turning down the hall to the left. "You really are beautiful though, Raene."

I laughed slightly just as Axel walked into the room from the right hallway. He raised an eyebrow in Demyx's direction. I just told him not to worry about it.

He smiled and walked over to me. His arm was hidden behind his back.

"Watcha got there?" I asked nodding my head towards his arm.

"Presents," he said simply.

My eyes widened with excitement. I must've looked like the little girl I once was jumping up and down in place. Axel laughed to himself and walked over to the bed, still hiding whatever it was behind his back.

I jumped onto the bed and kneeled on the white quilt smiling. He pulled a bag out from behind his back and placed it in between us. I shot out a hand for the bag but Axel was quicker than me and snatched it away. I crossed my arms in front of my chest and scrunched up my face in a face that reminded one of a little kid who had just been told that they couldn't have a cookie before dinner.

Axel reached inside the bag and pulled out a little bundle of cloth. I tilted my head to the side, eyeing it carefully until I realized what it was. "Clothes!" I shouted.

I grabbed it from him and held it out. "Go try it on," Axel said shooing me way. I switched to my current alternate clothes and jumped off the bed. I pulled down one of the curtains on my bed and dressed behind it.

It was a shirt. It had no sleeves and was the same color as my previous shirt so that it matched my shoes. I slipped it over my head. It came down a little bit above my bellybutton. There were two little black zipper pockets going diagonal-ways on the stomach area of the shirt. They seamed to be more for decoration then really hold anything.

There was a second part of the shirt that didn't actually attach to the shirt. It was a hood that attached to two sleeves. The hood was black and had white on the rim. The sleeves attached on the backside of the shoulders. The sleeves were short sleeved and were loose like my old shirt's sleeves. They were white but had some bits of black here and there.

I smiled and pulled back the curtain and jumped back on the bed. Axel handed me four bracelets; two black and two white, they were all large, thick bangle-like bracelets. I placed one of each color on each of my wrists. I tightened the black ribbon chocker on my neck and made sure the silver chain to my pendant was tight.

I hugged him nearly choking him to death. He smiled and I thanked him at least fifty times. "I just thought I would get you a little something," he said once I stopped. I smiled like a little kid again and he laughed. "And there is something else," he said reaching his hand back into the same bag.

I opened my eyes really wide in surprise that he had bought me something else. He pulled out a little box that was a dark blue color with silver vine-like patterns adorning the surface. It looked so expensive. I took it carefully in my hands and looked at it with curious eyes.

I stood up and carried it over to the dresser and opened it. A beautiful song began to play. It seamed so familiar but I couldn't recall what it was from. I stood there listening to the enchanting music. Without knowing what I was doing, I began to hum the tune along to the beautiful music. I smiled at it and then closed it.

"You know it?" Axel asked as I turned back to the bed and sat down next to him.

"No," I answered. "I don't know where I have heard it or why I know the tune; it's strange."

"I just thought you would like it so I got it," Axel said scooting to the foot of the bed and facing me once more.

"I love it! Thank you, Axel. But why did you go and buy all these gifts?" I asked.

"I felt sorry for leaving so I thought I should get you something to make it up to you," Axel said looking down. He stretched out his legs and crossed his ankles and folded his arms across his chest.

"You didn't have to do that." He looked up and smiled. "Let's not talk about that, though. Let's just talk."

"Ok. What about" Axel asked.

I kicked off my shoes and reviled my newly painted toes that matched my also newly painted fingers. My left hand and foot were painted a bright white to be opposite from my left Keyblade. My right hand and foot were painted dark black to also be opposite from that side's Keyblade. "I dunno, anything," I answered.

I slid under the thick, white quilt as Axel began to talk and I listened. We talked for hours and laughed at old memories from when we were little. After a few hours, I had fallen asleep peacefully.

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Yeah and kinda bad ending but who cares. I 'm the author I can do it the way I want. Thanks for reading! R&R please!


	13. Connected

Hola everybody! Once again this title probably sucks, but that's because I don't know what else to call it. Heehee. Ok enjoy chapter 13!

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I awoke the next morning to the same familiar buzz of people in the city. I turned over on my side and opened my eyes to see a thin Nobody asleep, leaning against the bedpost near my feet. His head was faced down and his arms were crossed over his chest.

I slowly got up and slipped on my shoes, which I had kicked off last night. I made my way quietly over to the door, trying not to wake him. As soon as I got to the door I heard a sigh coming from behind me.

I turned to see Axel open his bright green eyes and look over at me. "Good morning," he said smiling and stretching his arms over his head.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and walked over to me. "I didn't know you slept," I said casually walking out of the room and heading to the nearest descending staircase.

"I usually don't—but I feel quite relaxed. So where ya goin'?" He said following me as I slid down one of the railings of a staircase.

"To get some new robes then to get some grub," I replied heading over to one of the thousands of closets in the castle as Axel followed me by sliding down the staircase railing.

"New robes? Organization robes?" He asked leaning against the wall to the side of the closet.

I opened it and pulled out a new pair of pants and a new shirt. "Yep. I just now realized that I want something else to wear."

"And what made you think that? Your clothes fit fine."

"I dunno. Last night when Demyx came by after the meeting I noticed that I wanted something else." I said casually walking over to a different door to change since I couldn't just change like magic. I could only switch back from outfit to outfit; if I wanted to change, I had to change like a normal person.

"Demyx?" Axel said walking over to the door and leaning against the wall and I changed behind it.

"Yeah. He was fake hitting on me and I just—oh who cares." I said coming out and looking at myself.

I had gotten a pair of less baggy pants that were dark black. They were tighter but still flared out and had several pockets just the way I like it. I decided to just get a shirt that actually covered my shoulders for some reason.

"He was _hitting _on you?" He said after nodding at your new uniform.

"_Fake_ hitting. He was just messing around with me. Calm down." I said this while pulling the cloak over my head and heading out of the castle and into the town.

Axel and I walked through the city trying to find a little place to get something to eat. There were a lot of people out on this dark, cold morning. They all backed into the houses and shops as Axel and I passed. The two of us exchanged confused looks but continued to find a place for me to eat.

Finally I spotted a little café type place where a bunch of people were sitting down eating. I ran up to the counter before whoever worked here could close the place. I could hear Axel sigh as he sat down to one of the now completely empty tables in the now completely empty café.

I came over to the table Axel was sitting at a few minutes later after _persuading_ the owner to get me something to eat. I placed my Keyblades away as Axel made the fireball he was playing with disappear. "What do ya have there?" Axel asked.

"Some sort of smoothie thingy. I'm not very hungry," you replied taking a first sip of the sun colored drink. "Mmm…tangy."

"Tangy?" Axel asked.

"Yes, Axel. Do you remember what tangy is supposed to taste like?" I asked handing him the mug. I sounded like I was talking to a two-year-old.

He took a small sip and then placed the drink on the table. He smacked his lips together several times, determining the taste. He then smiled. "Tastes good. Kinda sour but not that much, huh?" He said.

I simply nodded and sat down, grabbing the smoothie and continuing to drink it. A few minutes of silence passed. Axel broke it, however. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" I asked not taking my lips all the way off of the curly straw.

"For leaving. I shouldn't have just run off like that. It was stupid to leave and not even say good-bye," he answered leaning forward and placing both elbows on the table and resting his chin in his hands.

I swallowed before answering. "Axel, I told you it's alright. I understand that you needed some time to just think. I mean after the meeting you just needed some alone time. It's all good." I took another sip.

"I know—but I just feel so bad," he said sighing.

"Trust me, I'm not upset about it."

"You're not mad at all?"

"Nope. Besides—Axel, something like this wouldn't make me mad. There are tons of other things for me to get mad over." I took another sip and looked at him.

"What would you get mad at me for?" Axel said lifting his head from his hands.

"Oh—nothing. I was just saying…"

"No! Seriously! Is there something that I did that made you mad before?" Axel asked calmly slamming his palms onto the table.

"Well—there was that one time…" I began. Axel leaned forward urging me to continue. "Well, you know when you and Roxas always used to go on those long, one month missions?" I asked. He nodded. "Well, I understood why you went on those; they were your job. You had to. And those didn't really upset me. It's just that one time you went on like a really long three-month mission that was only supposed to last a few weeks."

Axel tilted his head to the side slightly. "And then when I was about to turn ten like in three months, Xemnas assigned you and Roxas to a two-month mission. You promised me that you wouldn't stay any longer than needed. You promised Naminé and me that the two of you would be back so that all four of us could celebrate each other's birthdays. Since you were turning thirteen and Roxas, Naminé, and I were all turning ten."

Axel, at this point, folded his arms under the table and lowered his head, closing his bright green eyes. "I'm sorry," he murmured just loud enough for me to hear him.

"It's ok," I said quietly as well.

"No—no it's not ok. I made a promise to you and Naminé and I didn't keep it. Roxas and I didn't do what we said we would."

"That was five years ago, Axel. It's fine—I'm over it."

"Roxas would apologize even more if he were here, right?" Axel said sort of amused.

I laughed slightly. "Yeah."

"I wish I could have said good-bye to him," Axel said. I looked up at him with a sad look on my face. Axel still had his head bent forward and his eyes were still closed.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Axel, while keeping his eyes closed, reached out a hand. I handed the smoothie to him and he took a sip before placing on the table once more. "The day he left—I didn't tell him how I felt—how much I didn't want him to leave."

"What?"

"He just said that he had to know the truth—And that no one would miss him," Axel said wrapping his arms around him as if he were cold.

"No one would miss him? That's crazy! We would miss him—all of us, why would he say something like that?" I said.

"He didn't hear me…but I said that I would miss him. He just never understood how much we cared for him, did he?"

"The good-bye that we had was kinda weird too—I'm not sure why he did it…" I said looking off to the side. My eyes came across the building where Roxas and I had stood by when we said good-bye.

Axel's eyes opened and he looked up. "Did what?" He asked.

"Kiss me," I said like it didn't mean anything. I still was gazing at the same spot down the street.

"What?"

"Kiss me," I said once more.

"WHAT!" He said slightly louder.

I turned back to him. When I saw the look on his face, I was taken back. "What? He kissed me, big deal…"

"It is a big deal! My best friend and my other best friend!" He said.

"Big deal—what does that have to do with anything? It's not like he liked me or anything?—I mean, I guess it's good that I didn't like him anymore," I spoke not really knowing what I was saying.

"You. Liked. Him?" He said very slowly.

"Oh, come on Axel. It's only natural for someone to like their best friend at some point. Besides, it was like when I was twelve. I stopped liking him years ago." I tried pushing this conversation away, but Axel kept it.

"Why didn't you tell me that you liked him?" He said seeming hurt.

"That's kinda an obvious answer. You were his best friend!"

"So were you!" He protested.

"Yeah, but guy friends share everything. Just like girls do. If I told you, you would have told Roxas and then it would have been totally awkward. Naminé didn't tell. She knew that Roxas and I might not be ourselves if he found out. That's what happens when one friend finds out that their friend likes them."

"Naminé knew?" Axel said seeming hurt again.

"Well—yeah. I'm sure there are secrets that you and Roxas kept from me and Naminé."

"No," he lied. I could see it in his face.

"What ever, could we just drop this?" I asked annoyed.

"Fine. I mean it was like three years ago. At least you liking Roxas isn't as bad as you liking Sora," he said smiling and leaning back on two legs of the chair.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" I asked getting annoyed again.

"Oh, nothin'. But you gotta admit, you liking someone you never really met is kinda weird," he said.

My face fell. I was really hurt by it. "I can't…help it…" I said so quiet that I wasn't sure that he even heard me.

"But answer this—how can you like Sora if you never met him?" He said leaning forward listening carefully.

"I've told you before, Axel! My sister—I can see everything she sees. And When I have visions of her, I try to keep her feelings separate than the ones I feel. It's just…she loves him, right? And he loves her. I can feel the love for him inside of me whenever I have a vision of her. As confusing as it is, I try to see how my feelings for Sora are, and not let her feelings get in the way."

I paused for a moment to breathe then continued. "Seeing the love for him through my sister and knowing that he feels the same way to her, makes me feel like I'm her and that makes me think that I like him. It feels like he likes _me_. And that just makes me feel like I can like him. I know this is confusing and sure it's weird since I've never really met him, but if only you knew him the way I do. I guess, separately, I do like him—just him and not having Kairi in the way. I don't know why, but that's just how things are with me."

Axel didn't say anything for a minute. I guess he felt bad for it—I couldn't help that I didn't know him. I couldn't help that I had these visions. I couldn't help that I ended up this way—it wasn't my fault!

"I guess that it's only natural for you to feel that way, huh?" Axel said. I nodded.

"Kairi and I were both born in the realm of light. Kairi was born of a destiny of light, while I was born with that of darkness. Everyone's heart is half darkness and half light. When Kairi's and my heart melted together—in a matter of words—we still had half darkness and half light. Kairi gave me half of her heart. The half that she gave me was half darkness and half light itself, but since she had a destiny of light, it was given to me as all light."

Axel tilted his head, trying to understand everything I was saying.

I continued. "I gave her half of my heart too. Half of my light and half of my darkness. Also, since I was of a dark destiny, it showed up as darkness to her." Axel nodded. "So it ended up with us having, as we started out with, a heart that was half darkness and half light."

I gave a moment for Axel to sit and take in what I had just said. "Back to what I said first, Kairi was of light and I was of darkness. Because of that, it determines whether we can see each other. I can see the light even though I am of darkness because I was born in the realm of light. But since Kairi is of light and was born in the realm of light also, she cannot see the darkness that is me. She doesn't know the darkness. She is completely different than everybody else because she doesn't accept the darkness at all."

Axel spoke finally. "Humans don't want to accept darkness though."

"True, but they have to, it is half of them. Everyone accepts it; they know it's there. But they don't have to give into it like some do."

"I have to ask another question; am I talking to both of you in a matter of words?"

"In a way, yes. I'm me, but she's here—inside of me. People who talk to Kairi are talking to her, but I'm there. It's weird to explain…" I trailed off.

"Nobodies don't have hearts…" Axel started to speak. I nodded, showing him to continue. "If you became a Nobody, how is it that you still have a heart?" He asked.

I didn't know how to answer this question at first. I sat there and thought about it. "I guess…because half of my heart is living in someone else, it doesn't completely go away. I guess the heart that I have is still there, but the only reason is because of Kairi's heart giving it a home."

"You've been feeding the darkness in her heart, right?" He asked.

"What?" I asked confused.

"You were the darkness in her heart, right?" I nodded. "Well, now that you are having to live off of her heart, does she need the darkness anymore? You don't need the darkness anymore because Nobodies live off of nothing, we do not live in darkness or light. If you don't need it now and only have a heart because she is your heart, she doesn't need to keep hold of that darkness because you don't need it either."

"If I don't need the darkness, she doesn't need it—so what?" I asked not getting what he was saying.

"What I'm saying is that if you don't need the darkness, she doesn't need it. She'll be throwing away the darkness—she'll be throwing away the only bit of you that is still a heart."

"I still don't get it."

"If she doesn't need it, where is the darkness gonna go, and what's gonna happen to that half of her heart? That half of her heart is the only REAL part of heart that you have left."

"I guess she'll just shed the darkness and she'll get more light or a normal heart, how am I supposed to know, why should I care?" I said fed up with trying to get the pyro's long-worded questions.

Axel paused. He looked like he was thinking really hard. His eyebrows got all scrunched up and he curled the side of his mouth. "Raene, I don't think the darkness will just go away and magically light will fill the gap…I think light and darkness can't just be created like that—I think they have to come from somewhere…"

Before I could say anything, however, Axel had grabbed my arm and was marching me towards the castle.

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**Hey guys! Hope you liked chapter 13. I'll try to have the next one out soon. R&R please. **


	14. Fate

**Hey everybody! Chapter 14 here it is!**

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So here I was, being pulled through the streets by my arm. Axel was stupid enough not to summon a portal. If he was in such a hurry why didn't he just get us there the fasted way?

When Axel had dragged me up to my room, he picked me up bridal-style and dropped me on the bed. He told me to stay here and that he would be right back. Obviously, I didn't listen to him. So the second he left the room I was drowning myself in a black mist.

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Axel teleported, after getting a few feet down the hall, to the highest tower—instead of just teleporting inside Xemnas' private quarters. Luxord was sitting on the ground and was playing a card game with a few of his Nobodies.

"Luxord!" Axel said jumping up next to him.

"Care for a game, Axel?" he said looking up from his cards.

"No thanks. Hey where's Xemnas?"

"What IS it with everyday you asking for Xemnas? Jeez, it never stops when they start talking about how you guys come here everyday asking for him. What's the problem?" He said sighing and placing the cards face down on the ground.

"I need to find him. He's a dirty little liar and I need to burn _someone_…It's about Raene and I need to know—" He said getting angrier by the second.

Luxord smacked a Nobody over the head as he tried to peek at Luxord's overturned cards. "Well look, if you have no idea about this thing with Raene, how am I supposed to know?" Luxord said crossing his arms.

"Whaddaya mean?" Axel asked also crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

"You are ranked higher than me, Axel. If you don't know anything, what makes you think I know anything?" He said uncrossing his arms and picking up the cards once more.

"Being ranked higher doesn't have anything to do with it. Just look at Saïx—he's Xemnas' favorite member isn't he? I mean even Xigbar is behind him in favorites."

"Sorry, Axel but I can't help ya. Maybe you should go find someone inside there who can help. Let's see, Xaldin is on a mission, or just left so for one. I'm sure Xigbar or Saïx could help ya."

Axel muttered a word of thanks and ran inside, seeing as how no one really cared that he could get in now. Axel turned down a hall just in time to see a wisp of long silver blue hair go around the next corner.

Axel ran to catch up with him and called his name. "Saïx!"

Saïx stopped and turned to see his least favorite member. "What do you want, Axel? Can't you see that I am busy?"

Axel looked from side to side then leaned to the side to look behind Saïx. "No."

Saïx sighed. "What is so important Axel?" He asked annoyed.

"Please, Saïx. I know you hate me and all. But—please, I just need to know the truth—"

"Does this have anything to do with what you asked me a couple of days ago?" Saïx said holding up a hand to stop Axel from talking.

"Yeah. I need to know if it really is gonna happen."

"Didn't you get the answer from Xemnas the other day?"

"Xemnas is a liar! He said that nothing would happen, but I just now realized he's a liar! I need you to tell me, since he tells you everything, if it's true and if there is anything I can do!" Axel said getting very upset.

Saïx stepped forward. He slowly closed and opened his eyes. It looked as if he was feeling sympathy for him but that wasn't the case. "Axel. Orders are orders. I would tell you, but—I hate your guts. If you wanna find out, go talk to someone who doesn't want to take your head clear off."

Axel, after feeling that he was about to get some answers, lowered his head and slowly stepped backwards into another room where he fell to his knees on the urge of going mad. What was he supposed to do? Who DIDN"T want to take his head off? Then, it hit him—who was the one older member who was cool and was always in a _sort of_ happy attitude? Xigbar.

Axel jumped into the portal above Xigbar's grave and appeared in the training room. Xigbar was floating in the air and there were about two dozen civilians huddled together in the center of the room. "Look, people! You are only making target practice easier for me so please—spread out, run around, something besides looking like a bunch of chickens. The quicker we get this over with, the quicker you can leave."

Xigbar saw Axel standing off to the side and then spoke again. "Take five, everybody!" Everyone sighed and fell to the ground. Xigbar walked over to Axel. "'Sup, Axel? What can I do ya for?"

"Xigbar, I need to ask you a huge favor," Axel said.

Xigbar raised an eyebrow, "Oookaaay…what is it?"

"Raene—something is gonna happen to her. It has to do with her heart. Now that she is a Nobody, something bad is gonna happen to her heart." Xigbar's eyes widened knowing where this was going. "And Saïx wouldn't tell me what was gonna happen so I thought you would help me. Please, Xigbar. If something bad is gonna happen, I have to know if there is a way I can stop it."

"Walk with me," Xigbar said quietly. He summoned a portal and motioned him to step through. Xigbar followed but not before changing the floor so that the civilians were trapped on a single, floating piece of ground.

"Ok, Axel. Listen…"

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I was sitting on a small, white chair. I came in this room all the time even though no one had used it in over a year. But, because I came in here, I kept it clean and organized.

I had a sketchbook in my hands and I was drawing single portraits while facing out the window. I was humming the tune of the music box that Axel had given me. I didn't even notice when the door opened behind me.

Axel walked up to the table behind Raene and picked up the pile of sketches she had placed on it. He glanced through them. She had accurately drawn all the members up to Saïx, skipping Axel, and then finishing the rest. Axel started to hum the tune that Raene was humming as he looked over her shoulder to see the beautiful sketch of himself on the white sheet of paper in her hands.

I spun around to the humming coming from behind me. Axel was glancing over my shoulder with a stack of drawings in his hand. I grabbed them out of his hand and placed Axel's portrait in the right spot in the pile.

Axel had a look on his face that I had never seen before on him. It was a sort of sad expression but as if he were bored and trying to find something to do—like he was trying to avoid something. "So, how did ya find me here?" I asked placing the sketches on the table.

"Well, you weren't in your room so I figured that you would be in one of a few places. I checked here first," he said.

I smiled and started to walk out of the room, not trying to get away from him, but I just felt like going somewhere else. Axel followed me after grabbing the sketches and closing the door behind him.

I walked in silence, Axel walking slowly behind me. I made my way to the library for some reason. I walked to the center of the room and breathed deeply. I closed my eyes, leaned my head back and stretched my arms out.

Axel came in and placed the sketches on one of the desks and stood there quietly. "So, why exactly did you drag me back here? I didn't get to finish by breakfast," I said in a fake hurt voice.

Axel walked over to me with his eyes closed and his head hunched over. "Raene," he whispered, "I just found out something really bad." I tilted my head to the side not understanding. "You're gonna disappear."

My eyes widened and I could feel the color leave my face. "Wh—what?" I choked.

"Like we were talking about—Kairi doesn't need that darkness anymore. And now that you are a Nobody you get rid of it," he said still not meeting my blue eyes with his green ones.

"I—I don't understand," I said a little less scared sounding.

"Kairi's heart is gonna rid itself of the darkness since she doesn't need it, and the fact that she doesn't see it like others do." Axel paused, taking a deep breath. I stood there, waiting for him to go on. "When she gets rid of the darkness, something has to replace it—light."

"Light? What does that mean?" I asked, being confused for like the hundredth time this morning.

"Like I said, light and darkness can't be created—it has to be taken from someone else," Axel said finally snapping open his eyes. His pupils grew smaller as his eyes adjusted to the light in the room. I stared into the bright green color.

"Me—the light has to come from me. Doesn't it, Axel?" I asked understanding. Axel simply nodded. "What does that mean?" I asked.

He sighed before answering. "Slowly your light will leave because it is being replaced by Kairi's rejected darkness."

"How does that make me disappear? So what—I'll have a heart that is all darkness, big whoop."

"Raene…don't you see? You're already a Nobody. There is an exception because you still have a heart, because you are different. In a matter of words, you have already turned to darkness, that is how a heartless and a Nobody are created. If your heart is completely filled to the brim with darkness again, it will be like a Nobody being created all over again." I tilted my head the other way now. "Since you are already a Nobody, turning to darkness will be destroying you—just like what happened to the other five members. They've gone to a dark place, a heaven, wherever it is we go."

"So you're saying that if Kairi gives all of the darkness back, I'll be turning to the darkness?" He nodded sadly. "If I turn to darkness, I'll be…dead…gone forever…"

Axel nodded. "Xigbar said that Xemnas knows a prophecy that says that all Nobodies are to fade back into darkness. It says that we are to complete our goal of creating Kingdom Hearts, but we won't become whole; we will fade back to wherever it is we are to go."

"Why does Superior continue to seek hearts if he knows are fate? It's not one of those prophecies that can change can it?"

"Nope. It's a full-out prophecy. And I guess he's just one of those people who think they can stop 'em. He thinks he can prevent the prophecies from happening."

"What about the other members? Why do they continue to do it if they know also?" I asked.

"I guess they just go along with Xemnas…"

"So the prophecies don't lie. All Nobodies are gonna fade back to darkness; even me…" I said closing my eyes and dropping my head.

"Nuh-uh," he said. I looked up. "You're not gonna be like the others. You won't disappear like the others."

"Axel, it's a prophecy, you can't stop it. Even Roxas and Naminé couldn't stop it and they were different too."

"You're different from their uniqueness. I'm gonna make sure you can't. Wasn't it you who said that Naminé isn't really gone? She never joined with Kairi; she's just wandering around somewhere alone; half of her Nobody self?"

"That doesn't mean anything. Eventually she will become whole with Kairi, just like the prophecy says. Besides why are you trying to do this, you can't change what is to happen?"

"I guess that's the one thing Xemnas and I have in common. We both try our hardest to change the future."

"I don't want to be saved."

"What!" Axel asked completely shocked.

I took a deep breath. "If, by some reason, I don't fade back, you will. You're a normal Nobody. If you fade away, who else will I have? I have nobody left to care for. No family, no friends! I don't want to be saved!"

This hurt Axel. You could see the change of expression in his face. "I don't care about that, Raene. You don't deserve this."

"Axel…fading away is my destiny…I can't change it! No one can!"

Axel grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me slightly closer to him. "It may be your destiny—but I won't let it become your fate." His eyes dug into mine. He was scaring me with his stern words. He cupped my cheeks now and pulled me even closer to him. He bent down so his face was even with mine. "Raene, please. I only had a few bits of hope left in my _life_. Those were you, Roxas, and Naminé. Now that they are gone, I'm near going mad. They were the rays of sunlight set in my fate. Now you're the only bit of light left. Please, Raene—don't take my sunshine away."

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**Hey everybody. Hope you guys liked this one. Yeah, bad news for Raene. But something bad had to happen sooner or later, right? Aww—Axel cares for her sooo much. That last thing he said is so emotional…kinda corny, but I liked it. Thanks for reading. R&R please. Stay tuned. :) **


	15. Dreams

Hola! OMG! I love this chapter sooo much. I'm sorry it took a while to get out. The stuff you learn in this chapter will leave you jaw-dropped, mind-bending surprised and/or confused. Yes—yes it will. The first half is in Raene's POV and then it switches to Axel's. Yay! Now, by the chapter name, you can tell there will be dreams. Yeah sooo have fun and read the Author Notice things please. Sorry that it's long too.

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I don't know what came over me at that moment. I felt sad, but I didn't know why—it wasn't because of the fact that I was slowly dying. No—it was something else. Axel dropped a hand from my face but kept the other cupping my cheek. His eyes were staring straight into mine. His pupils zipped back and forth between both of my eyes as if they were looking for me to say something. But I didn't. I took Axel's hand that was still on my face and grabbed it with both of my hands. I could feel tears swelling up behind my eyes. And I knew that the second I closed them I would start to cry. I dropped Axel's hand, but it didn't fall back to his side. Instead, it just stood there, held up in front of us.

He wanted me to take back his hand, but I couldn't. I knew that he only cared for me, but he couldn't see the fact that I truly didn't want to be saved like this. It was fate. And once fate has been set, it cannot be changed.

I turned and walked out of the library at a fast walk. As I made my way across the room tears started to fall down my cheeks. I had no idea why I was crying but I was. I closed the doors behind me and teleported far away.

I arrived at the entrance to the once grand castle that I once lived in. I tried not to be upset by its new appearance. I walked in the large doors that had lost its beautiful color.

This was one of the only parts that were still intact. The fountain in the center of the room was no longer working and parts of the staircases were collapsed or had completely missing steps. I looked at the room and a memory of when this room was lively came to my mind.

_Aerith and Yuffie were sitting on top of the fountain. Yuffie was quietly rocking side to side while Aerith splashed her bare feet in the spout of water. _

"_Whatcha thinkin' about Aerith? Cloud?" Yuffie asked as Aerith started to hum a song quietly to herself._

"_No. I was just thinkin'…about—hey you two! You're dad wouldn't want you both getting hurt running around like that. Be careful, OK?" She said loudly to the two twin girls chasing each other around the three-story tall entrance hall. _

_The two girls paid no attention to the brunette as they continued to slide down banisters and jump down from the second floor. _

"_Squall, would you please do something about them? The King would get so mad if they got hurt under our watch," she said to her other friend who had just entered the room. _

_Squall reached out and grabbed the younger twin, threw her over his shoulder, and waited till the older twin, who had been being chased by the younger one, come back around the room. He then grabbed her, threw her over his other shoulder and carried them both up to the library while saying something about a math lesson._

I teleported up to my old room, thinking that the lift was no longer working in this old castle. I appeared in the room that had one large glass window for all the walls. There was no furniture or toys left in the room. Only empty boxes.

I walked over to window looking out at the world. There was no life anymore. This wasn't the beautiful home that I once lived it at all.

"Hey Xarene!"

I spun around after nearly falling into the window, which would have caused me to fall to my death. Luxord was standing there with a large smile on his face.

"Umm—hi," I said tilting my head to the side.

"Well ok, Xigbar told Axel about something, that I don't know anything about. Axel talked to someone and now you don't have to go on that mission with Xaldin," he said very quickly.

"Umm—thanks."

"But, Xemnas said that you will have to go on a mission tomorrow."

I nodded and thanked him. He disappeared and I settled down on the ground, with the sudden urge to sleep.

_I ran through the halls of the castle with Axel next to me. Larxene and Demyx were right in front of us and Roxas and Naminé were right on our tails. We were all laughing hysterically until a large roar sounded from behind us. _

_We all halted and waited for whoever made the sound to come near us. Vexen came into view with his shield in his hand. He looked very angry but none of us moved; it was as though our feet were glued to the floor. _

_Vexen came up to us and then shot six ice crystals in our direction. The next thing we knew, we were all pinned to the wall, including Naminé, who was wearing Roxas' old cloak. He was getting so tall so fast. Naminé, Larxene, and I were all the same height. Roxas and Demyx were about four inches taller than us and Axel was about two inches taller than them._

_There was a crystal launched in the hood of our cloaks. Axel and I were at eye level to Vexen. The others were closer to the ground and on either side of us. Vexen had pinned us in a sort of pyramid shape on the wall. Naminé was farthest to Vexen's right. Roxas was beside her. Next to Roxas but higher up was Axel. I was on Axel's other side. Larxene's head was just an inch too far away from my foot. Demyx was on Vexen's far left and next to Larxene. _

_All of a sudden the other members appeared in front of us. "Vexen, what happened now?" Xemnas asked looking at us pinned to the wall._

"_Ask them!" He yelled pointing another ice crystal at us. _

_Xemnas looked at Roxas. "What were you all doing that ticked him off so much?" he asked the blonde. _

"_Well—ya see, we were playing Hide-and-go-seek Team Tag and—"_

"_What is Hide-and-go—what?" Xemnas asked getting tongue-tied. _

"_Well ya see were playing and we decided to hide in Vexen's lab and then we accidentally broke some of his potions. Then he put us on the wall." The rest of us agreed by saying 'yeah'. _

"_Vexen, just get them dow—" Xemnas started to say, but Vexen was already gone. _

"_Ok, all of you follow me—Saïx, Lux—"_

"_No way, man. You guys woke me up because the brats were stuck to a wall. I say leave 'em there. I'm going back to bed," Saïx said teleporting away._

"_Luxord." Xemnas said turning to the gambler._

"_Sorry, boss. But I'm late for a poker game," Luxord said before teleporting away also. _

"_Fine! Lexaeus, Xigbar, Xaldin, let's go!" Xemnas said turning. _

"_What about me?" Marluxia asked after he was done laughing at us on the wall. _

"_You're staying here, Pinky," he answered. Zexion erupted in a fit of giggles. "I don't know what you're laughing at Purple Boy, you're staying here too." And with that Xemnas disappeared down the hall followed by the others. _

_All at once we started to unpin ourselves from the wall. We all started trying to pull the ice out, but that didn't work. Naminé was pretty much out of luck and just hung there. Demyx was also out of luck. He realized that he couldn't do anything either. He couldn't melt the ice that was launched in his hood. Apparently his element couldn't interfere with ice even though they were almost the same. So he crossed his arms over his chest and hung there like a puppet. _

_Larxene pulled out a kunai and aimed it above her head to where she thought the ice was. All of a sudden smoke filled the hallway. Once it cleared, everyone looked over at Larxene. Her blonde hair was sticking out in all directions and her flawless skin was now covered in gray soot. _

_I snickered at the fact that she had electrocuted herself. She placed the kunai away, patted down her hair and then punched above her, hitting me in the shin. I tried to kick her in the head but I just wasn't tall enough. _

_Axel was the only one who really had a chance to get free but he was also having no luck. It was as though the other members couldn't tamper with Vexen's element. Roxas and I suddenly began to swing at the ice above us with our Keyblades. I unfortunately hit Axel a few times in the head in the process. Since we couldn't get down, we just sat there, hanging by our hoods stuck to a wall. _

_It was silent for a while until Larxene shrieked. "Marly!" she yelled looking at Marluxia who was standing next to Zexion wishing he was anywhere but here. Larxene was like a little baby chicken who followed the mother hen around. That's how it was with her and Marluxia. Ever since she got here when she was a toddler, she followed Marluxia like he was her mom or something. Marluxia gave up a long time ago to trying to get her to follow someone else around. But he wasn't gonna answer her unless she used his real name._

_She shouted the nickname for a while and Marluxia continued to act like he wasn't even there. After a while, Demyx caught on and shouted 'Marly' too. Marluxia was ticked off now. "What?" he asked annoyed. _

"_Get me down from here!" Larxene said attempting to pat down her hair again. _

"_Not a chance, you're staying right where you are," he said placing his hands on his hips in a rather girly way. She glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest._

"_Fine! But, when I DO get down, I will make you pay for making me hang up here with all these losers."_

_All of us hanging next to her said a bunch of 'Heys' and such but she ignored us. _

_Marluxia stepped forward a bit and bent down in Larxene's face. "Pft. Larx, don't forget—I'm twice your age. There's no way some little ten-year-old is gonna take me down," Marluxia said laughing and turning to his fellow adult behind him. _

_Zexion just gave him a look like 'I don't know man, you don't wanna be doing that'. Marluxia smiled and started to turn back to the outraged blonde. But as he turned, he fell forward; his knees buckling below him. _

"_Ha! That's what ya get!" Larxene said. Axel, Roxas, Demyx, and Zexion all winced at what she had just down. Naminé and I simply laughed quietly to ourselves. _

_Marluxia crawled away from the wall and sat still on the other side of the hall. It was silent for a little while longer until, in unison, Axel and I both yelled "Zexy!" at the top of our lungs. _

_Zexion turned around from watching Marluxia. His silver purple hair spun around, brushing over his dark eyes. He gave the two of us a look that said he was annoyed._

"_Zexy, could you PLEASE get me down," I said in a very nice voice. He just shook his head from side to side._

_So it must have been a few hours before we actually got down. Xemnas and the others finally found Vexen and convinced him to let us down, since he was the only one who could rid us of the ice crystals that just WOULDN'T MELT! Of course the second we got down, Vexen went into a sort of berserk state of being like Saïx does when he's annoyed, cranky, or just feels like being a pain in the butt. He began swinging his shield around and throwing ice at us left and right. The other members just sighed and went back on with their lives as the crazy scientist chased the six of us down the hall. _

My eyes opened and I looked around. I was still in the large room. The sky was a deep shade of purple now. I must had been sleeping for a few hours. I got up and teleported outside. Everyone in the town was wrapping up the day and was heading to their houses for the night.

There was a man standing a little ways to the side of the town square. He looked to be in his young twenties maybe even in his late teens. He had dark brown hair and big teal eyes. He was just standing there in the wind looking up at the castle. I walked by him to get to a shop. I was stopped however, because he said something to me.

"Sure is beautiful, huh?" He said. He had his hands in his pockets and was just staring up at the silhouette of the castle.

I stopped and backed up a bit and stood next to him. I was looking at him, but when I saw that he wasn't gonna take his eyes off the building I looked up too. "Yeah…it is."

"Shame what happened to it. But I'm sure someday it'll look the same that it once did," he said smiling. "You from around here?" He asked turning to me.

I kept my eyes on my old home for a moment before looking at him. "Not anymore, I'm not."

"I lived here my whole life. I was about ten maybe when the King ordered everyone to leave as soon as they could. They gathered up all the children they could and left. I wonder what ever happened to the King…" he turned back to the castle.

I crossed my arms and tightened my cloak because it was getting very chilly. "I dunno. I sure hope he made it out too," I replied also turning to face the now completely shadowed castle.

"And the princess. I hope she's ok too." I turned my gaze to him once more. "I wonder whatever happened to her…"

"She's safe." He looked at me but I didn't look at him. "She has a home and friends. A great life."

"How do ya know?" He asked.

"I just do. I know that she's happy there," I replied.

"Has she ever tried to come back? There was a rumor that she was here last year. But no one knows for sure."

"She doesn't remember this place. But she'll come back one day," he tilted his head to the side. "One day she will. But part of her won't be here, it'll be somewhere else. The other part can never come back."

My eyes started to swell with tears but I held them back. If Kairi did come back, she would only be half here. I would be somewhere else. I was to fade away and make her whole. But I would still be somewhere else. I would never get to come home. I was a Nobody. Nobodies don't have homes.

"What was here name again?" He asked.

"Kairi." I answered whipping my eyes so that he couldn't see.

"Kairi…by the way, what's your name?"

"Raene," I answered.

"That's a beautiful name. I'm Dason."

"Dason…" I said.

"Raene, have we met before?" he asked.

"I don't think so," I answered.

"I think I knew a Raene. You just look so familiar. Did you ever go in the castle?"

"No," I lied.

"My parents worked in the castle. My dad worked with Cid in the hangers. My mom was a seamstress. I came in and spent most of my time in the library."

I nodded. I did know him. I recall a boy who used to read to the little kids a lot. The children from the orphanage would come in and there was an older boy you used to read to them. Kairi and I didn't get to listen a lot though; we were always busy when he was there.

"It sure is beautiful," I said. "One day it'll look the same; Princess Kairi will come back one day and it'll be like nothing ever changed."

Neither of us spoke for a while. The wind blew around us. Dason shivered and pulled his arms up to his chest. "Ya want me to walk ya home? It's getting' kinda late." He said.

"Nah, that's Ok. I'm just gonna stay out here for a while." I looked up at the castle and pictured it as it used to be.

"Ok then. Nice to meet you, Raene," he said before turning and heading to the village.

"Yeah, nice to meet you, too," I said. _Nice to see you again._

I started walking out of the town and into the outskirts. I wanted to just get away for a while. I walked in the direction of the large structure in the distance. I walked through caves, jumped off cliffs, walked through the valleys. It was as if I had a map saying which pebble to step on and which crack to jump over in order to get there.

I eventually made it to the ledge looking out at the structure. It looked like a castle with several single towers. It was crumbling, much like the other one, and had a large Heartless symbol on the middle tower. There was no movement, no light, no life. It was like an old house where people once lived. Now all the people had died and there was no one to take care of the old house.

I felt calm here and not sad like I did over there. But then I started to think; did I really feel sad or did I just think that I felt sad, and that being a Nobody was really starting to act upon me.

I suddenly had the strange feeling like wasn't alone. I turned my head but didn't get to see if someone was really there because I fell over. I huge pain started to seer through my head like someone had hit me with a bat. Everything started to go dark as I felt the warm sticky blood drip down my head.

_I was standing there on the same tower I always did, staring up at the moon. He was standing beside me laughing at a joke I just said. He smiled and I looked at him. Every time I looked at him, my gaze fell right onto his deep green eyes. He was staring straight at me, but I couldn't take my eyes off him. _

_He laughed again. "Raene, I gotta tell ya something," he said quietly. _

"_What is it?" I asked looking into his eyes. _

"_I've wanted to tell ya this for so long, but I was always too scared of what you might think," he looked down at his feet as he said this._

"_Just tell me what it is," I said. I was really too slow at this point to see what he was trying to say._

_He smiled. "Raene, I think I'm in love with you." _

_My eyes widened and I looked at him not believing my ears. "Wh—what?"_

_He smiled. "I love you, Raene. I always have. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me," he said. _

_I just stood there looking in his green eyes and taking it in. He wanted me to say something, but I couldn't. My heart, or what was left of it, had stopped beating. My lungs had stopped working and I couldn't blink. _

_After a minute of silence, he spoke again. "Xemnas wants to get Kingdom Hearts. But we don't need it. I don't need it. He's doing this to get our feelings back, but I already have them. I can love, I love you. If I were to become whole again, you wouldn't be there, Raene. I would never see you again. If our goal is accomplished, we'll all be separated again."_

_I looked down at the ground. Why was he saying these things, but—also, why was I smiling? I was happy!—but why! I couldn't feel the same way, I wouldn't let myself fall for him. _

_But I did. I fell right into his arms that were begging for me. He wrapped his arms around me and I placed my hands on his chest. It was cold and he pulled me in as close as he could. _

_I looked up at him and he looked down at me. He was smiling the biggest smile I had ever seen on him before. We stood like that for what seamed like forever, in each other's arms in the cold, staring at each other. _

_Then—he kissed me. He slowly brought his lips down upon mine. I closed my eyes and smiled again beneath his lips. It was great. My stomach felt like it was rising to my throat and I thought I was going to float away if he let go. _

_There was no way to hide it—I was in love with Demyx._

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00 big shocker! Keep reading. Sorry for this interruption… :)

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When I said those last words, I wasn't expecting her to do what she did. Her blue eyes started to swell with tears but she held them back. I didn't know why she was about to cry. All I did was care, why was she so upset that I wanted to save her?

She pulled my hand off her face and let go of it. But I kept it there, begging she would take it back. Why was she so upset? She turned and sped out of the library and slammed the doors closed behind her.

Usually I would chase after her, but I didn't. I stood there for an hour with my hand poised where she had left it. She wasn't gonna come back soon, so I finally decided to move also. I walked over to the desk where I had placed the drawings she had done and slowly walked to my room.

When I got there I dropped the drawings on the floor. I sat down on the bed as the sketches scattered across the floor. "Naminé—help me." I started to speak to myself. "Please. You're the closest thing to an angel for me right now. I need to save her. I need to know how. Why doesn't she want to be saved, Naminé? Why?"

I laid my head on my pillow. "Please, send me a sign, anything! I have to know what to do. I can't lose her. Please, Naminé—you can see me—you know what's happening. I can't talk to Roxas…so you're the only other person who knows what I mean. I know you are the only person left who understands. Send me a sign, Naminé."

_She stood there by the open window. The breeze from outside was blowing her long, curly red hair around her round face. Tears ran down her cheeks._

"_Ale," she spoke looking up at the boy she had known her whole life._

_He turned to her. His fiery hair fell down over his dark green eyes. "What?" he asked._

"_Ale, I know you don't get what I'm trying to say—but, please—don't do this." She spoke not getting any closer to him._

"_Why not? It's my life, I can do what I want with it!" _

"_Please, listen. You don't believe in the realms of Darkness and Light. You think there's no such thing. That's why you don't get that what you're doing is slowly destroying you." She took a step closer; wrapping the green sweater he gave her tighter around her body. _

"_I understand what you're saying. You say that there are two sides to everything—good and evil. I get that! That's why I have to do this."_

"_Ale! What is your problem? This is your home, this is your life—you're slowly going away from the people who care about you the most," she said walking closer to him. _

_He didn't look at her completely. He was looking in her direction, but he didn't see her. "This world that we're in is the Darkness."_

"_What! This world isn't Darkness. Why do you say that?" she said, tears ran down her cheeks some more. _

"_This world took my parents away from me when I was just a child. Then the only family left was taken away." _

"_This world we live in isn't the evil side! Ale, your family is right here." He turned and looked at her and smiled. Some more tears fell from her dark eyes. "You and me, Ale. This is our home, we're not kids anymore, we're free to live a life the way we want. We can be a family. Ever since we were little we wanted to be a family together, Ale. Now we do. Please, don't do this. I wanna spend the rest of my life with you, don't go throwing your life away."_

_He walked up to her and pulled her into his arms. He whispered in her ear, "Listen to me, Love, I'm doing all of this because it's the right thing. We can be together forever—but only if I submit myself to this other world. This world we are in is Darkness. I must turn to the Light, then you and I can live forever and ever. We'll be immortal and we can be together forever, Love."_

_She pulled away from him. "No…no…no. Ale, you're wrong. This world that you want to live in, it's not the Light—it's Darkness. You go there and you'll never see this place again."_

"_I never do wanna see this place again."_

"_Honey—I won't go with you. If you go, then I'll stay here." He looked at her with an expression of sadness and anger. "If you're gonna go there and be like that, then I guess it was never meant to be."_

"_Don't say that! I love you! Please, Love, come with me—so we can be together forever," he said holding out his hand. _

"_No. Ale, my love, I won't do this. It's either that world or me…I'll give you some time to think about what's more important to you." She turned and walked out to the bedroom. _

I woke up breathing very fast. "Ale," I said. "Was that my name? And that was the girl. We were in love? What was her name? What was I thinking—turning to the Darkness? Is that how I became a Nobody?"

I looked out the window. "Naminé? Was that my sign? What kinda sign was that? Why did you show me a memory of her? Is that supposed to help me save Raene?"

Stop asking questions, I told myself. I took a deep breath. I then fell back on my pillow once more.

_It was dark everywhere. The whole room looked as though a tornado had hit it. The boy was standing with his back turned to the girl. He was breathing deeply. _

_The girl was crying. He wasn't going to change. He had made up his mind and so had she. She wasn't going with him to the Darkness—but she couldn't live without him. "Ale!" she yelled. _

_He didn't answer. "Ale!" she yelled again. _

_He turned to her, his green eyes glowing like a rabid wolf. "Ale, I can't love someone who cannot see that he is killing everyone who cares for him," she said quietly._

"_Don't say that," he said in a whisper. _

"_What? Don't say what?" she asked. _

"_Don't say you don't love me! That's not true. You do love me," he said closing his eyes. _

"_I'm sorry, my love. You have pushed away the last bit of light in your life. Now the only thing that you can do is go to that place, but I've warned you, Ale. Only Darkness awaits you. Every ray of light is gone now, Ale. And it can never come back." _

_Ale opened his eyes. The love of his life started to glow. Her feet slowly lifted off the ground. The light coming off of her started to grow brighter and brighter, then it died down again. _

_She started to fade away. Ale's eyes widened but he couldn't move. As she became almost completely transparent she spoke her last words. "I still love you." She then closed her dark eyes for the last time and then disappeared completely. _

_The boy was completely still and silent for a long time. He then fell to his knees. He pulled on his hair and screamed out in anger. "This world is what took you away. The Darkness. Now I will go to the light. Why didn't you come with me, my love—to the light so we could never be parted? Why?" _

_He stood up, closed his eyes and lowered his head. Just before he too faded away, he spoke. "I'm so sorry, Amaya."_

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What did ya guys think? Raene got knocked out, but by who? Raene's having sweet dreams about Demyx. What could it possibly mean? Axel finally remembered his name and the girl from his memories. Yay! The whole issue with Axel and the girl in his dreams was a lot like Anakin and Padmé from the 3rd Star Wars. But I liked it. Ok. Sorry it was long and sorry it took so long to get out. What's gonna happen now? Tune in next time to find out. Love you all. Oh, and I put in so pics of Kairi and Raene on my profile. Check 'em out.


	16. Past Friend

Hey everybody! Hope you like this one!

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_Where am I? _I asked myself as the dream started to fade away from my mind.

Demyx? I'm not in love with him? Right? Right. 

I opened my eyes and looked around. I was in a room that reminded me of an infirmary room. The walls were all white with matching white tile floors. Completed with the off-white ceiling.

A large, bright light was directly above me, shining in my eyes. I tried to cover my eyes with my hand but my hand wouldn't move for two reasons. One, I was bound to a table by dark, leather straps around my wrists and ankles. Two, I couldn't feel anything besides my head and face.

I shut my eyes and tried to teleport but no black mist surrounded me. I laid there quietly going over my options—unfortunately—I didn't have any.

All of a sudden, there was a sharp pain shooting through the side of my head. I winced as I remembered how I got here. I remembered sitting on the ledge looking at that castle. Then I was knocked out.

I sighed as the pain went away. A few minutes later a black mist appeared at the other end of the room and someone appeared. The man was dressed in black robes and had his hood up. I didn't recognize him as any of the other Organization members.

"Good. You're awake," he said. I recognized that voice. But I couldn't place voice with face. Darn.

I sat still glaring as he came closer to me. He was right in front of the table near my feet. He held up his hand and the table slowly began to tilt so I was sort of up-right.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Who are YOU?" I asked. I was really ticked off.

He smiled. "I've heard that I'm a good friend of yours," he said. I raised an eyebrow. "DiZ told me that you know me and that I know you. He said that you're a lost memory of mine. Who are you?"

"You're DiZ's assistant, aren't you? You're the guy that I saw in Twilight Town." I said noticing him.

"Do you recognize me from anywhere else?" he asked. I could see barely any of his face under his hood, but I could tell that he didn't really know the answer to the question he just asked himself.

"Maybe if you removed your hood I could," I said nicely.

He smiled and then slowly pulled the hood off his head. I immediately knew who he was. He had silver white hair like Superior's and dark orange eyes. "You're Ansem. I've seen you in—dreams of mine." I didn't want to tell him anything just yet. "You're supposed to be dead."

He smiled. "Ansem took my body once. I thought that by letting him do so I could save the one I loved. I thought I got rid of him but then I obtained his form trying to save my best friend. But, now he is gone."

"Ansem—Superior's true name—" I said to myself but aloud.

"You're with the Organization," he said.

"Don't you recognize me from Twilight Town?" I asked.

"I still want to know who you are. Your name's Raene, right?"

I nodded. "Who are you really?" I asked.

"Before I answer that, tell me—what do you remember of your King?" he said stepping a foot closer to me.

"My King. He—he disappeared nine years ago," I said.

"Do you remember his name?" he asked.

"I…I…" but the truth was that I didn't remember. That was the one thing I didn't remember from my life before living with the Organization. I never remembered my King's name. "No."

"Hmmm—I figured as much. So—Raene, tell me your life story," he said.

My eyes widened. "My whole life! Yeah, as if I'm gonna tell you all about myself and the Organization. You're working with DiZ and DiZ is out to destroy the Organization. I'm not gonna give the information he needs to destroy my family!" I said in an angry but slightly quiet voice.

His expression changed. "Your family?" he said.

I nodded. "They're the only people left. I mean my real family doesn't even know who I am," I said.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing that you would understand. Whoever you really are has a family that remembers them, I don't." I spoke harshly and turned my head to the side.

He walked around so I was once again facing him. "Tell me. I don't wanna hurt you in anyway or the ones you love. I just have to know the truth. If what DiZ says is true, about us knowing each other, then I should know about you. You tell me and then I'll tell you everything, I promise," he said.

I smiled. "Fine." I suddenly felt like I could trust him. I knew who he was, this Ansem guy. I knew that I had seen him before. But I guess that I was forgetting things, just like I should, since I was disappearing. "Could you let me go, though? I wanna sit down," I said.

He got this look that showed that he wasn't very sure he should trust me.

"Look I can't exactly go anywhere. I have no feeling in anything but my head and face, I'll probably just fall to the ground."

He kept that same look.

"If you don't believe me, then stab me or something. I won't be able to feel it."

He tilted his head to the side then summoned a long blade. I didn't get to look at it enough before he had slammed it in my stomach. I gasped but relaxed when I didn't feel anything.

He pulled it out and summoned it away. "That didn't hurt?" he asked.

I shook my head and looked down at myself. I wasn't bleeding or wounded in anyway, which made me happy.

"Fine," he said walking up to me and taking off the leather ties. I fell to the ground with a 'thump.'

"Owww," I moaned. I had hit my head right on the cold floor.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me up to a sitting position. "Let's get started then," he said summoning a chair and sitting down on it.

"Ok. Where do I begin?" I asked.

"From the beginning," he replied.

I sighed and began to tell him my life story. "It all started with my hometown. I was royalty, by the way. My dad was King and my mother was Queen. My twin sister and I were the only children."

"You were royalty?" he said.

I nodded and continued. "There's a thing that says that every few generations, a set of twin girls are born into the royal family. My father had two younger sisters who were twins. In my hometown, there are twin stones. A necklace was made for each twin. A black stone and a white one. They are diamond-cut hearts. The necklaces are past from twin to twin. When my father's sisters died they were put in my mother's possession until the next set of twins came along."

I paused and looked up at him. I had been staring at the floor while speaking. I smiled and continued. "My mother died when my sister and I were born. Now the thing with these necklaces, is to give the daughter who is more mischief the black stone and the less mischief one the white. The one who is more mischief is believed to be born with a Dark spirit and the other with a Light spirit. Even though they are both in the light realm, one is said to be Darkness is a Light being's form."

"Were you the one of Darkness?" he asked me.

I nodded. "My dad died when my sister and I were just five years old. I saw Heartless kill him." I paused. "My sister and I weren't old enough to rule so our father's best friend became King. He grew up like a price ever since his parents died when he was a kid. A year later, on our sixth birthday, the Darkness came, once again, to our world. This time, they succeeded in taking over. The King told my sister and I to leave even though he knew we wanted to stay with our people. We felt like we should stay with our people who couldn't get out. Just like a captain goes down with the ship."

"So you left," he said.

I nodded again. "He sent us to a place he said would be the safest place in the universe. He said that the Darkness couldn't come back if we went there. He said that _He _couldn't return if we went there." I stopped talking. I thought about what I had just said. "That's it!"

"What's it?" he said.

"Somehow Superior and the King were connected. They were acquainted somehow. If I had stayed where he sent us, the Darkness couldn't reach there and the Keyblade wouldn't be needed so soon. If I went there, Superior wouldn't be who he is right now."

He just tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Come back to that later. So, you and your sister left. Where did you go?" he said.

"We were taken to a beautiful, secluded world. It was a chain of tropical islands in the middle of the ocean."

He widened his eyes but I didn't see; I was, once again, looking at the floor.

"When we arrived, it had been a few weeks since we left. It took a while to get there. We stayed in the Governor's mansion. It was stormy that night and I couldn't sleep. Before I knew it someone was pulling me into the Darkness. It was a member of the Organization, Saïx."

I looked up at him. He was listening very carefully and patiently waiting for me to continue.

"Before I could be taken away though, the two necklaces that my sister and I carried collided. They became a part of each other. The right side of mine was switched with the right side of hers. This represented our real hearts. Now I had half of her living inside of me, just like she had some of me living inside of her."

I looked up. His eyes were wide open as if he had just seen a ghost. "You. I know you. Your necklace—you're…Kairi?" he said, his voice changing to a questionable tone as he said her name. "Kairi?"

I nodded.

"I knew it! You ARE her sister. The necklace! Kairi has the same necklace as you. She never took it off. She—she never told me she had a sister—" he said.

"How do you know her?" I asked.

"I'll tell you in a minute. Keep telling me more!" he persisted.

"Okay—well, the thing is—she doesn't remember me," I said.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Naminé was told to wipe out every moment of me in all the memories of people. If anyone had me in their past, I was no longer there. She couldn't replace them because she was only six years old at the time and wasn't as gifted as she is now, but she could erase them."

"She took all the memories of you from Kairi, right?"

I nodded. "I went to live with the Organization. They became a family to me and I made friends. I slowly became a Nobody just like them as the years went by. I only recently became a FULL Nobody. All these years, I've been able to see Kairi in visions. In these visions, I can see, feel, think, hear, smell, taste, and know everything she can. To me, it's like I AM her."

"Because you are her, you live inside of her, right?" he said.

"You understand this better than anybody us who I've told this to before," I said. He smiled. "There is one other thing though, she can't see me," I said.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Kairi was born in the realm of light and was born of Light; remember, I was born of Darkness. She doesn't see the part of her heart that is me. I see her because I see light, she doesn't see Darkness. That is why she is so pure. I think that is one of the reasons that she was one of the Princesses of Heart."

"So she doesn't accept the Darkness at all even though she knows it's inside her?"

"That just shows how pure she is," I replied. "Now—will you please tell me who YOU are?" I asked.

"Wait. Why didn't you go and try to find Kairi if she was your sister? Wouldn't you want to tell her who you are?" he said.

"I—I wasn't allowed to. Superior forbid it," I replied.

"Why did the Organization kidnap you?" he asked.

"They are after hearts, as I'm sure you know. They needed the Keyblade to get themselves hearts."

"What does that have to do with you?"

"Kairi—if she were to have stayed the way she was and I would have stayed on the island, the Keyblade wouldn't have been needed."

"Why not?"

"The amount of Light in Kairi would have affected me. All the light of that island and her would have caused me to lose the Darkness that is myself. Together, she and I would have destroyed all the Darkness from reaching the island. If the Darkness couldn't get there, then the Keyblade wouldn't be needed, because the Darkness' power would have been lost. The Organization needed the Keyblade, so if they had let me stay on that island, their goal would be impossible."

"Oh…" he said.

"Now will you tell me who you are?" I asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I did," he said.

"Oh really?" I answered.

"I'm surprised you don't know who I am by now." I tilted my head to the side. "If you can see Kairi's thoughts in visions, you should know who I am. Remember, I took this form to save her and my best friend. Does it ring a bell now?" he said.

I sat there for a moment, thinking. While I sat, puzzled, I tried to move my hand or arm or anything for that matter, but I still couldn't move. I thought about all the visions I had seen of Ansem through Kairi. Then—it hit me. "Riku…" I said quietly.

"Took you long enough," he said.

"I don't know why I didn't see it right away." I once again, tried to move. My fingers slowly closed and opened into a fist. I did the same to the other hand. "Maleficent told you that you could save Kairi if you got the Keyblade. While he went around sealing the keyholes to the worlds, you were strengthening your heart so you could beat him and gain the Keyblade."

"I ended up being beaten by Sora. I was scared—ashamed. I thought I couldn't save Kairi. Ansem then said that I just needed the right kind of power. He told me to give way to the darkness and I could save her. I did but he took over."

"How did you end up like _this_ then?" I asked.

"When Sora chose to remember his old memories and forget about what he had seen at Castle Oblivion, it wasn't just enough for Naminé to put them back. He needed his other to take his place." He looked down at the ground.

I sat there for a minute tightening and loosening my fist over and over again. I then started moving. I could feel the rest of my body now. "It was you," I said quietly.

He looked up.

"You! You're the one who made it so Roxas went away!" I said harshly but quiet, still looking at the ground.

"Roxas left the Organization on his own. I had to take this form to beat him so I could save my friend," he said.

"What about my friend, huh?" I asked. He just sat there. After a moment he stood and summoned away the chair he had been sitting on.

I spoke again. "Roxas, my best friend is no longer here because of YOU!" I said in the same tone.

"It was to save my friend, ok? I had to!" he said.

I looked up. "So what? You think you can just go around ruining everybody's lives just to make yours better?" I made an effort to get up.

He didn't answer me.

"What? So you think you're the only people worth saving! You think you're the only one with friends!"

"Nobodies don't have friends!" he said.

I stood up all the way now. "You have no right to just go around OUR world and take away innocent people!" I yelled.

"Nobodies AREN'T people!" he yelled back.

"You still have no right!"

"I can do what I want!"

"How would you feel if it were backwards, huh? What if Roxas was the one needing his memories back? What if I just came to your island and just took Sora away, huh? I made it so he could never come back, is that what you would want!" I said.

He came up to me. He was a good foot and a half taller than me. Standing there with him up in my face made me feel as though it were Superior about to kick my butt instead of Riku.

"It's war," he said calmly.

"You're an outsider, Riku! You can't just go around messing up our lives! It's our lives and you're just going around thinking that you can just step all over us!"

"Nobodies don't have lives!"

"Stop telling me what we do and do not have, ok! I know that! I've known that for nine years!" I screamed so loud I though he would back off or close his eyes from the volume of my anger. But he just stood there, didn't even blink. I lowered my voice a little to a quiet yell. "You don't know anything about us—not like we do."

He pulled back a little bit and stood there stiff as a board.

I spoke again, now in an even quieter voice. "You humans are all the same. You have no idea how difficult our _not-lives _are. Think about it—no home, no family, no friends, no one. We aren't real."

I sat down on the ground, I was breaking down again. He sat down in front of me and waited for me to speak again.

"Think about it, the older members could have been married. They could have had wives and maybe even children. But now—" I paused and took a deep breath. "—if they did have kids, they're at least nine by now. That's a long time with no dad to raise them. Their wives had to move on, do you know what that must be like?" I paused again. I was gonna start crying soon; there was no doubt about it. "They had friends and family. But then if you think about it—all those people, it's not theirs anymore."

He looked at me with the most unexplainable look I had ever seen.

"It's not their memories that they can see and remember, it's their other's. It's not their name that makes up their new name; it's their other's. If they had a wife, she wasn't his, she was their other's. Same with the kids if they had any." I took a deep breath. "Their homes aren't theirs anymore, they never were. Us Nobodies are completely different people from the ones we remember being."

I completely lost it then. I was really crying. I was a very emotional person. Any sensitive subject broke me with tears. I calmly spoke as tears continued to slowly fall down my face. "We Nobodies don't have homes that we can go home to when there is no place left to go. We have no parents to raise us correctly or be there for us when we need someone. We have no older brother or sister to stand up for us when we're being picked on. We have no friends to tell our secrets to. Because—like you said, Riku—Nobodies aren't real people—and if we're not people, then we can't have anybody—we don't exist."

He got up and sat back down next to me on the ground. Unconsciously, I leaned onto his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders awkwardly. "I guess it's kinda weird for me to be comforting you, huh?" he said sort of chuckling.

"Why?" I spoke in the quietest voice. I even had difficult saying that because I was still hyperventilating from crying.

"I guess it wouldn't be so weird if I actually looked the same. I guess it's kinda weird with me looking this way." I chuckled a little too. "I'm sorry for all the things I said," he said quietly.

I picked my head up off his shoulder. "No—no I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten so mad at you," I said.

He looked at me as I stood up and turned to face him. "I—I just—" I stopped and took a deep sighing breath. "I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm disappearing slowly and I don't know how to handle it. My best friend is just trying to save me. I should accept the fact that he cares—but—I don't. I just—for some reason I don't wanna be saved. I wanna disappear. I guess I'm just one of those kinda people who don't question fate. What am I supposed to do?"

"You gotta understand that your friend has lost the only other people he could ever care for. He just wants to do everything he can to save you," he answered following me with his eyes as I paced the room.

"Do you know why I'm disappearing, Riku?" I asked. He shook his head slightly. "It's because I just recently became a true Nobody. In short words, the Darkness in her heart is me. Since I don't need a heart anymore, she can get rid of that half of her heart. It will be replaced with Light—the Light left in my heart. As I start to give her the Light in my heart and she gives me the Darkness in her heart, I slowly start to fade away. Since I'm already a Nobody getting a heart full of Darkness will be like becoming a Nobody all over again. By doing so, I'll go away."

He didn't say anything, just nodded.

"What should I do?" I asked once more.

"If you truly don't wanna be saved like he wants, you need to explain that to him," he said.

"I tried," I answered.

"Well—try again. More calmly this time. Explain to him why you just want fate to take its coarse."

"How am I supposed to do that?" I asked.

"Well just tell him, I'm sure—"

"No! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT? I'm trapped here and I can't teleport," I said.

"I'll let you go—if you tell me why you were in Hollow Bastion earlier," he said. "I thought you were forbidden to go to your home again.

"Axel and I had gotten in an argument about him saving me and I needed somewhere to go. One, Xemnas doesn't control me like he used to. And two, it's not my home anymore. I'm a Nobody now; I'm allowed to go here." I sat there waiting for him to say something.

"I saw you there and you were in the Organization uniform so I knocked you out—sorry," he said quietly. "I'm sorry that I criticized Nobodies so much. I never knew how bad it was for you guys."

"I don't want anyone to feel pity for us. I just want you all to know that you can't just go around thinking that we're a bad group, 'cause we're not. We are neither. We are only jealous of humans," I said quietly.

He didn't answer that but instead stood up and summoned a portal behind me. "In there is a path to your world, you should get going," he said summoning another portal and beginning to step into it.

"Wait!" I said. He turned around. "Will I see you again, Riku?" I asked.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"I sure hope so," I said quietly.

"Then we will. Destiny wants us to meet again before the final battle," he said before turning and disappearing into the portal, it closing behind him.

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Hope you all liked this one! Sorry that it took soooo long to get this out, guys. I'll try to work on chapter 17 and have it done by next Monday the 21st. That's next week ok? It should be kinda short, but my friends and I have been planning for weeks to go Homecoming Dance dress shopping so I don't know when I'll get it done. Thanks for reading! Love you all! R&R!

PS I'll be putting some more pics on my profile when I get chapter 17 out so look forward to those too.


	17. I See Dead People

Sorry this is really late getting out. I said it would be out by Monday, but the weekend was shorter than I thought. I've decided I'm not gonna say when I think I'll get the next one out. I'll just update when I do. But don't worry it won't be too long. And another thing…if it takes me a while to update, don't assume that I quit fanfiction, ok? If I did, I would put that up on my update section of my profile. Anyhow, on with the story.

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I stepped into the light. I squinted my eyes as they adjusted to the new surroundings. I was in the library, the lights were lit and it wasn't dusty.

The same pile of books were scattered in the middle of the room. I smiled at being home and I walked forward towards the doors across the room. As I made my way to the stacks of books I heard a voice.

It belonged to a female and it seamed as if she was mumbling to herself. It was coming from behind the stack of books in front of me. I walked around and screamed at the top of my lungs at who I saw.

She was sitting there, cross-legged with a piece of paper in one hand and a pen in the other. Her blonde hair was tucked behind her ears and her blue green eyes sparkled.

"Larxene," I spoke.

She didn't look up. I bent down and waved a hand in front of her face. She didn't notice either. Was I dreaming? Could she see me, hear me? What's going on?

She started to write on the paper. Her eyes were full of so much emotion as she paused occasionally to decorate the page with lightning bolts and other drawings.

I stood there bewildered that Larxene was sitting in front of me. All of a sudden the doors at the other side of the library opened. A man stepped in. His pink tinted hair blowing back as he made his way over to his friend.

I, once again screamed at seeing someone I thought to be dead. He didn't do anything either. He stopped next to his friend on the ground and looked over her shoulder. "You're never gonna tell me what that book is, are you?" he asked smiling.

She shook her head and placed the paper down next to the open book near her knee. "What's up?" she asked looking up at him.

He straightened up and said, "There's been a little complication. We have to go now. You have five minutes. I'm gonna go round the others." He turned and disappeared into a cloud of black.

"Marluxia!" I shouted reaching for the cloud just as it faded away. "No…Marly…" I said sadly. I turned around to see Larxene.

She was finishing righting on the piece of paper. "I'm so sorry that I must leave, my dear library. But, not to worry, I'll be back soon. I would never leave you," she said as she folded the paper delicately and placed under the book in front of her.

She stood and summoned a portal. She looked around once more and closed her eyes. When she opened them again I could have sworn I saw a tear roll down her pale cheek as she stepped into the portal.

"Larxene—Larx" I said as the portal disappeared.

I sat down in the middle of the books and pulled my knees up to my chest. What was happening? I leaned back and my back hit one of the stacks of books. I turned around and scrambled to pick up the books I had knocked over. I noticed a small piece of paper sticking out of one of the books.

I pulled it out and opened it. I smiled when I saw what it was. There was a picture of a blonde and a redhead. They were both dressed in Organization cloaks. _Me and Larxene._ It wasn't the best drawing but it reminded me a lot of the style that Naminé draws.

There was writing beneath the picture. It read:

_I know that I've always been a big brat to Xarene but I don't hate her. I guess I was just jealous because everyone was paying a lot of attention to her when she came along. I've come to see that she's not a bad person. We may not always get along and it may seam like we wanna just kill each other at times but I don't hate her. She's the closest thing to me really. Sure, Marly is my best friend but it's just not the same as having a girl as a friend that you could tell secrets to and paint each other's toenails and do each other's hair. Sure I could do something with his hair—I'm sure he wouldn't mind—but it's still not the same. I wish that I could get up the courage to tell her that I don't hate her. But the more I feel like telling her the more I feel that she is growing angrier and angrier with me. So as time progresses, I feel that it's too late to tell her. But I promise that someday I'll tell her or maybe I'll just throw this paper at her while running through a room and let her read it. _

_Anyhow, so I've either told you or your now reading this, Xarene—I mean Raene—it's just to say what I wrote above. I don't hate you; it may look like I do. But you'll always be my best friend. It's like how you always say—"Nobodies don't get to be with their families but now we have a new one." All thirteen of us plus you and Naminé—we're all a big happy, messed up family. _

_I just had to let you know this because one day we may not ever get to see each other again. If we become whole again, we may be separated forever. I just have to let you know this so that if that happens you can look at memories of being a Nobody with me and the rest of our family. You'll always be my best friend, Seraph of Mortality._

_Larxene XII The Savage Nymph_

I smiled and closed the paper. This time I stuck her secret note in my pocket for later. I suddenly heard approaching voices. I turned to see Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion entering through the large wooden doors.

"Marluxia told me to help get you guys—so where is he now?" Vexen said looking around the room.

"Who knows," replied Zexion in his usually bored tone of voice.

The two turned to their brute-like friend, Lexaeus. He just shrugged and cross his arms over his muscular chest.

"He's waiting," Zexion said.

The two older members changed their gaze to Zexion.

"What?" Lexaeus asked raising an eyebrow.

"Marluxia and the others are waiting at the front doors. It's time to go," Zexion answered. He too had his arms crossed over his chest. His lavender hair fell over his down turned face. His dark eyes were closed.

"Well then let's go," Vexen and Lexaeus said in unison.

Zexion opened his eyes and nodded. But before they all made their way to the door or to open a portal they all stood still, as if they were taking in their surroundings for the first time.

I stepped forward to them. They all had their eyes closed again and were breathing deeply. "Vexen," I said quietly. He opened his yellow green eyes and walked away to the door.

He stopped, holding open the door as Lexaeus opened his eyes as well and followed. "Lex—no Lex, don't go…" I said reaching out a hand slowly as he exited the library and Vexen followed his brute friend.

I turned back to Zexion. His eyes were still closed. He inhaled deeply and then opened his eyes. They were brighter then I had ever seen them. He smiled then turned to walk away.

"Zexion, don't go!" I said. The second those words left my mouth, he stopped. My eyes lit up. Could he hear me? He didn't turn back to face my direction, but kept his glance forward.

"Zexion—no one else can hear me. I need you to hear me," I said. I knew he couldn't hear me, but I truly needed him to. I reached out a hand to touch his back. He was quite short and was only as tall as Axel maybe. I took a step closer to him. His sweet smell radiated off him and filled my nose with it.

"Zexy—please—don't go," I said. He started to walk away after I said that. I reached out a hand to grab his cloak this time, but sadly, my hand went right through his shoulder.

I was saddened. I knew he wasn't really there. I was positively going mad. He and the others died a year ago. But why did they seam so real to me at that moment?

He exited the door and I closed my eyes. I opened them a few minutes later. To my surprise the room was different. Just a few minutes ago it was clean and the lights were lit. Now it was dusty as it had been for the last year and the center chandelier was lit, casting a gloomy glow over the library.

All of a sudden the lights flickered slightly above my head. I looked up and watched as half of the lights in the chandelier went out, making the room even darker.

A portal appeared behind me and I spun around. Xigbar emerged from the portal with an alarmed look on his face. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"What do ya mean?" I questioned.

"I heard screaming coming from the library. Was it you?" he said. I raised an eyebrow. "It was going on non-stop for like ten minutes."

"No," I answered. I had screamed twice when seeing Larxene and Marluxia, but it wasn't for ten minutes non-stop.

"That's strange…" he said. "Are you sure you didn't hear anything?" he asked.

I shook my head. He nodded. "Xigbar, have you ever seen people that you know are no longer living?" I asked.

"What?" he said.

"Like—you know that this person is dead, but you feel like there next to you. You can see and hear them."

He shook his head. "Where you gettin' that?" he asked.

"No-nothin'" I said stuttering.

"Xarene…" he said sternly. He walked forward.

"It just that—I think that I just saw the other members—the ones that died last year," I said. It was impossible to hide anything from him.

His eyes widened. "You saw Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion?" he said.

I nodded. "And Larxene and Marluxia."

"How?" he asked.

"Dunno. I just walked in here and Larxene was sitting there. She was doing the same thing she did the last day she was here—the day they left with Marluxia."

"Why do you think you saw them, and at that time, too?" he asked.

I closed my eyes and shook my head. "I don't know. Do you think it's tryin' to tell me something?" I said.

Xigbar stood there for a minute. He was thinking. "Xarene—"

"Yes?"

"—did you know about the plot? The plot to take over the Organization?"

My eyes widened. "I—I—" I sighed. "—yes."

"Maybe whatever made you see them is trying to tell you something."

"Like what?"

"If you knew of the plot, you could have stopped it, couldn't you?" he said staring deeply at me.

I nodded. "But—I don't understand—"

"Maybe it's trying to show you that you could have stopped them from leaving, and saving them in the end."

"Are you saying it's my fault that the five of them are dead?" I said.

"I'm not accusing anyone of manslaughter—I'm just saying—maybe it's saying that you could have saved them."

"You're not exactly helping," I said saddened.

"I'm not supposed to make everyone happy, Xarene." He paused and took a few deep breaths. "Maybe it's a sign that—"

He stopped half way through his sentence. "Sign that what?" I said.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno,' he answered. "I'm not the mental thinking kind of person who can figure out things like that. That's more your department, Xarene. Destiny. Fate. Whatever you saw has something to do with your future. I can't help you."

I looked down at the ground disappointed. Why did I see them?

"Hey, Xarene," he said. I looked up. "It's a persons job to settle what their own fate is."

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Hey guys! I'm sorry it's soo late. It'll take a while to update from now on. I'll try to get one every other week hopefully. My parents don't like me writing stories, so yeah, whatever. Oh and sorry that the stuff on my profile is gone. I'll fix that later and put the other pics up later.


	18. You're Back

**Hey guys! The return of Axel is here! Yay! Oh and just to let you all know, remember, Raene found out that she was gonna disappear in the morning and she went to Hollow Bastion later that day. She was with Riku the next day. So it was only like yesterday that she found out about it. Just letting you know that so as not to confuse you all. Enjoy!**

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What Xigbar had said really got me thinking. _Was it my fault that the others were dead? If I had said something, would they still be alive? _Then I got sidetracked. _What day was it? What time was it? _

I walked down the hall further trying to remember. I passed one the hundreds of lounges in the castle and popped my head in the arching doorway. A large clock on the wall read 8:26. All of a sudden Saïx stumbled in the room from another doorway and dragged his feet towards a chair.

"Stupid kid! He just sings and sings and sings. He woke me up early," he mumbled pulling a quilt over him and resting his head on the back of the seat.

_It was morning._ I decided. I started to think back. _I must have been asleep for most of yesterday where Riku was keeping me._

I walked back out of the room and trudged to Axel's room. We had to talk. I needed to let him know how I felt about the situation. Before I knew it I was standing in front of Axel door. I took a deep breath and walked in. Axel's cloak, shoes, socks, gloves, and his shirt were scattered about the white floor.

Axel was lying peacefully on his bed, shirtless, while quietly snoring. The plush covers were under him but thrown around messily. His arms lay by his side. I smiled and walked over to the other side of his bead. Him finally getting some more sleep would give me more time to figure out what to say.

I carefully climbed onto the bed. My black clothes disappeared and were replaced by my casual outfit. I lied down and propped my elbow up with my head resting in my palm. With my other hand, I pulled the tossed cover around me.

Axel was as still as a statue as he slept there. His bare, pale chest stood out against the pitch-black color of his pants.

When Axel did sleep, he was like a rock. Barely anything could wake him when he slept. I placed my fingertips on his stomach. I shot my eyes to his to make sure that I hadn't woken him anyway. He remained still and snoring.

Although he didn't look it, Axel was quite toned. His muscles were the kind that didn't show on his skin but that you could feel. His abs were invisible against his baby-soft skin but they were strong.

I slowly started tracing the muscles on his chest and stomach. Every few minutes I looked up only to find that his dark green eyes were still shut tight. I traced little doodles and designs along his skin. I traced a circle around his bellybutton and he made a sighing sound. I thought he was gonna wake up but he merely yawned, smacked his lips and then continued snoring.

I sighed and continued to lay there with my hand resting on his chest. His skin was freezing cold but I didn't care. I began to hum the song from my jewelry box quietly to myself as I gently drummed my fingers on his chest.

All of a sudden, Axel began to stir again. I looked up. He brought his arms up and stretched them out as his head dipped into his shoulders and he yawned. After he was done stretching he placed his arms down but one hand fell upon mine.

His eyes flashed open, his pupils growing small by the light. As soon as he realized that I was there he jumped up and fell off the other side of the bed. He scrambled to throw a shirt on but he was having some difficulties.

I sat up pulling the covers around my waist and laughed quietly at him. "And what may I ask is so funny?" he said.

"It's not like I haven't seen you shirtless, Axel. You can chill," I replied.

He sighed, threw the shirt back on the ground, and sat down on the bed. He sat quietly and so did I. Neither of us knew what to say.

A small pitter-patter broke the silence. We both looked over at the window. It was beginning to rain. I smiled and walked over to it. I swung open the out-swinging doors and looked into the morning. The sky was cloudy all over except for an opening in the purple clouds revealing the large moon.

Axel came to my side. The two of us knelt down on the ground and rested our elbows on the window seal. Axel reached his hand, palm down, into the rain.

"It's warm," he whispered.

"What?" I asked.

"It's warm rain; the sign that summer is ending," he said twisting his hand around in the rain, coating it with the warm droplets of water.

I stuck my hand out too. I always loved the summer's end rain. Every year I would go out into the city and dance around in the mist caused by the warm water hitting the cold streets. Sadly, I didn't feel anything this time. I could see the rain bouncing off my skin but didn't feel the warmth; not even the small tap of the drops.

"Huh?" I said.

Axel turned to me while pulling his hand back inside and tucking under his other arm. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I—I can't feel it—nothing." I said staring at my hand.

He raised his eyebrow. He grabbed me by the shoulders and turned me to face him. "Close your eyes," he said. I did. "Now tell me if you feel anything," he continued.

I waited a minute. "Did you feel that?" he asked.

"Feel what?" I answered. I opened my eyes. He was holding my wrist with one hand and poking the palm with the other hand. I shook my head.

He nodded. "Close you eyes again," he told me. I did and waited again. "Anything?" he asked after a moment. I shook my head and opened my eyes.

"It's weird. I could feel like five minutes ago. Why not now?" I said throwing my arms in the air.

He patted my back softly. "It's ok, Raene," he said kindly. "But let's get off this subject." I nodded. "So how ya been?" he asked.

"Ok I guess. I just wanted to come here and settle this. Now before you object, I just want you to know how I feel about it, ok?" I said.

"Uh huh," he answered.

I walked over to the bed and sat down again. He followed. "Well, first I would just like to say that—well, I understand why you got so upset over me not wanting to be saved. I just know that you can't. I don't doubt your ability; I just know that there is no way to save me. I'm flattered, Axel, I really am—but please see it the way I do, please—"

He smiled. "I understand. I just don't wanna lose you, Raene. You're my best friend," he said.

"I'm not going anywhere; not without you, ok?" I said. He smiled. "I just know that my destiny was decided a long time ago—and fate signed the deal a long time ago too."

"Ok," he simply said.

I smiled. "Guess what?" I said cheerfully.

"What?" he asked.

"I had a dream—I wanna tell you about it," I said.

"Ok," he replied.

"Ok…well when I had it—it was kinda like I couldn't see everything," I started. He nodded. "It was like I was being told a story with a few pictures. I was on the tower and I was there with someone else. We were talking and laughing. I didn't know who it was at first. All I knew was that he had green eyes."

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Green eyes, eh?" he asked.

I nodded and continued. "He said that he loved me," I stated. Axel's eyes widened. "He said that he had two things to say about Xemnas' plan to make us whole again. He said one, that he didn't need to become whole. He said that he didn't need to gain the ability to have emotions because he could already do that. He said that the emotion he felt was love—for me."

Axel nodded, "And the second one?" he asked.

"The second was that if we became whole, we most likely would be separated and that none of the members might never see each other again."

"What happened then?" he asked.

"We kissed," I said quietly.

I couldn't quite understand the expression that was on Axel's face when I said that. It was some what surprised, questionable, and something else. "You—you kissed him?" he stuttered.

I nodded again. "And that's not the strangest part," I said. He raised one of his eyebrows again. "I found out who the guy was—It was Demyx."

Axel went silent for a minute. I had no idea what he was thinking or what he would say or do next. Then he just started laughing. He fell back, his head bouncing on the cushiony bed.

"Demyx! Man, that's funny. You—and Demyx! Ha!" he went on clutching his sides from laughing.

"It's not funny!" I protested. He continued laughing and rocking side to side on the bed. I pulled him up with one hand and slightly socked him on the shoulder with the other. "I said it wasn't funny!" I threatened.

He stopped. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's just…" he sighed. "Never mind."

"That's better," I said.

It was silent for a minute again.

"Ahhhh!" Axel screamed suddenly.

"What! What is it!" I said jumping in alarm.

Axel wrapped his arms around me and was crushing me against his bare chest. "Oh, Raene, I just remembered. I had a dream! A good dream! It was about the girl and me, and AHHHHH!" he yelled again spinning me around in a circle, my feet hanging out in the air.

"Axel—can't breathe!" I choked out.

He dropped me on the bed. "Ok! I was in the dream and so was she. My name was Ale. And we had just moved out on our own. We were living together, and oh Raene, we were in love!"

Axel sounded like a teenage girl and a slumber party squealing the way he did. I smiled laughing as his voice went up another octave.

"She was so beautiful, Raene. Her hair was this gorgeous shade of red and she had the darkest blue eyes. She had a heart shaped face. Raene, you're like her twin," he squealed again.

I blushed. Had he just called me beautiful?

Axel didn't notice that my face had turned a delightful pink and continued. This time his voice wasn't in a high-pitched tone; it was back to normal. "But I was doing some stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" I questioned.

"Well apparently I started drifting away from everyone. I thought that the world we lived in was evil—darkness. I started trying to make my way to the other world thinking it was the light. Of course I was wrong. She noticed though and tried to pull me back saying that I was in the light and that I was heading to darkness."

Axel stopped and looked up at me. He had had his face turned down ever since he stopped talking in a girly voice.

"She kept say things like how she wouldn't follow me to the other realm and that I wouldn't be with her anymore. She said that I was throwing away everyone that cared for me," he continued.

I couldn't help but realize how familiar that sounded to my life.

"I told her that if she came with me we would be able to live together forever in the light and never be separated."

"So what happened?" I asked quietly.

"I didn't listen," he replied. "No matter how many times she warned me—I still didn't listen."

I tried to pull the corner of my mouth into a half smile to show that I was feeling sympathy but I had no success.

"Eventually she disappeared," he said. "She faded away saying 'I love you,'"

I tried to put on a half smile again but I failed once more. Instead I asked, "What did you do next?"

He took a deep breath then replied, "I got mad. I threw myself on the ground saying that the Darkness had taken her away forever. I was getting so angry that—I too faded away."

"Do you think that's how you became a Nobody?" I asked.

He nodded.

"What was her name?" I asked.

"Amaya," he replied.

"Amaya—night rain." I said quietly.

"A child of darkness born in the light," he said.

"I guess we _are_ twins," I said slightly laughing trying to lighten the mood.

"That's what Naminé said," he said.

My eyes shot up from looking down. I could feel them as they grew to the size of golf balls. "Wh—what?" I said stuttering.

"I heard Naminé's voice in my head. She sent me the dreams of my past life. She told me that I couldn't save Amaya because I was turning to the darkness thinking that it was light. She said that you are her."

I tilted my head to the side.

"She said that you were like a reincarnation of her. She said that saving you would make up for not saving her," he continued.

"Axel—could we please not go back to talking about that?" I pleaded.

"I just thought that I could save you—I mean you are just like her," he pressed.

"So?" I said furrowing my eyebrow.

"You look like her, you're my best friend, you're both children of darkness born in the realm of light, must I go on?" he said.

"No, no. Don't. I get what you're saying, Axel. It's just that…" I started to say.

"It's just what, Raene!" he said getting louder.

Why was it that every time Axel and I had a conversation, there was always fighting in it? "Don't get mad at me for what I'm about to say," I said lowering my voice.

"Ok," he said. "What?"

"I've been thinking about this for so long. I guess over the past year or so. Ever since the Age of Prophecy started," I said.

"And?" he prodded.

"And—well I've been thinking about how Xemnas and the other members got the Organization together early and how that effected what was meant to happen."

"What do ya mean?" he said.

"Well—with you, Larxene, and Demyx—your memories. You're supposed to see the memories from when you became a Nobody, right?" I said.

"Yeah, and?" he said again.

"The three of you only came to the Organization at the ages of two and three. You do realize that those memories you're seeing aren't yours, right?"

"What's that supposed to mean? Of course they're ours," he said.

"Axel. You became a Nobody at the age of three. Xemnas and the others took you at the age of eighteen and took away fifteen years. For fifteen years the other members didn't grow up. You, Larxene, and Demyx only were alive for those few years before you became a Nobody."

"I don't understand what you're trying to say," he said.

"Ale didn't exist those years that you see. He never did grow up to eighteen. He grew up to three then he became a Nobody because of Xemnas and the others. Those memories you see aren't really real."

"Of course they're real!" he said getting angry. "Why would I be in them at an older age than three if they weren't real?"

"Because they're implanted!" I yelled back.

He calmed down. He had had his back straightened up with anger, but now he had relaxed.

"Axel, they're the memories of what _would_ have been your past life. Ale only existed for _three_ years," I said calmly.

He relaxed some more. His shoulders sagged more and more with each passing second. His eyes grew darker too.

"Axel, the reason I told you this is because those people from your dreams aren't the same people as who they really are. Amaya—she probably doesn't remember an Ale. You may never have even met her in the few years you were Ale. Your parents, they had a kid named Ale, but he's not there anymore. He's gone. Ale is a forgotten name in the minds of the people from your memories. Just like Myde or Dyme or whatever Demyx's name was isn't real anymore than you are. It's the same with Narele or whatever Larxene's name was."

"Why did you have to go and spoil this for me, Raene?" he said. "I was finally happy because I remembered my name and hers—and then you have to go and tell me that those memories aren't real. You had to show me that those great things that happened in my dreams are fake and that they never happened."

"I told you not to get mad. I just was throwing this out. I wanted to just start a conversation about this earlier. Friends talk. I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's ok. It's just in those dreams, I've never seen myself—well him—so happy."

"Really?" I asked.

"Well—no—I've been happier with—" but he was cut off. The door swung open behind me.

Both of us looked up to see Xaldin standing there. "Come on, Xarene," he said sternly. Why was it that no one could just call me Raene?

"Why?" I asked.

"Mission time," he simply said. 

"Mission?" I asked more myself then him.

"Luxord _did_ tell you that you would be going on a mission today, right?"

Then I remembered. "Oh yeah," I said getting up. "Catch ya later, Axel," I called over my shoulder as I stepped into the hallway, closing the door behind me.

"So what mission is it?" I asked Xaldin who was walking slightly ahead of me.

"You're going to do a little work with Hades," he replied.

"Hades?" I asked myself more then him again.

"And you have a partner," he commented.

"Who?" I asked.

"Demyx," he said opening a door and throwing me in.

When the door closed behind me I realized now that I didn't want to be within a hundred feet of the guy I was having dreams about.

"Hey, Raene," he called from across the room.

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**Hey guys! Hope you like this one. I know I liked righting it. I do know now that the next chapter will take FOREVER to get out I think. It will be a while because I have no plot line for the Olympus world. I'll try to come up with it tonight so I can start righting soon. Enjoy the pics I put on my profile. **

**Thanks for reading and being such great fans. I love you all. R&R :) **


	19. Olympus

Okie dokie! I can't believe I've almost written 20 chapters! This is gonna be a long story since we're only this far into the game, right? Right. Ok…so this is kinda a pointless chapter but nonetheless, you MUST read it. Demyx is in it. And he is very important. I apologize for making Demyx seam like a total pansy here, but he's just freaked out at the moment, he'll be better. I was just saying this because Megan is worried that I'll make him sound like a baby. Anyhow, on with the story. Oh, and by the way—this chapter is dedicated to everyone, but mostly to Megan because she is my Melodious Nocturne.

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When Xaldin had said the name of the guy I was gonna work with, I kinda lost my ability to do anything. I was in shock as he through the door open and tossed me on the ground. Like I said, I wasn't in complete control of my actions, and I fell to the tiled ground with a big _thump._

I pulled my upper body up so that I was resting on my elbows. When Demyx said my name I fully became aware of what was happening. I sat there on the ground as the musician skipped over cheerfully. "Ya ready?" he asked holding out a hand to help me up.

I grabbed his hand and stood. "Su—sure," I said shakily, still trying to calm myself down. "So—what exactly are we supposed to do?" I asked.

He started to explain as I changed to my Organization cloak. "Well, Superior wants us to go and trick Hades into letting loose a bunch of Heartless for Sora. You're friends with him, aren't you?" he said.

I looked up at his face. "Who?" I asked.

"Hades. You guys are kinda buds, right?" he said.

"Well, sorta. I think I'm the only Nobody he trusts," I answered.

Demyx summoned a portal and stepped through. I followed and found myself walking in the colorful tunnel of dark corridors. It would be a while before we got there. "Demyx?" I said after a minute.

"Hmm?" he answered from next to me but keeping his eyes forward.

"Have you ever _met_ Sora?" I asked.

"Nope," he answered.

"You know what he looks like?" I asked.

"Brown hair, blue eyes, carries a key as a weapon. I think if I saw him I would know who he was," he said.

"Well the reason I asked is because—well you _do_ know that he's Roxas' other, right?"

"Yeah—but who doesn't know that?"

"I bet you two hundred munny that the second you see Sora you'll call him Roxas," I said.

"What? Are you turning into Luxord or something—gambling is your new hobby?"

"No," I said.

"You suddenly changed places with Xigbar and now all ya want is cash?"

"No," I said again.

"Well then I accept your bet," he said. He stuck his hand out.

I must've looked like I didn't know what it meant when someone wanted you to shake their hand. I stared at it for a few seconds blankly. He jiggled his hand slightly and then I grabbed and shook it.

The rest of the trip through the colored tunnel was quiet for the most part. We may have walked for about half and hour or so before a small portal of light could be seen ahead.

"So you have a plan I suppose, then?" he said slightly jogging up to the portal.

"I've got an _idea_. I hope it'll work," I replied jogging too.

As soon as the two of us entered through the light, Demyx started jogging quicker and quicker until he was running full speed. "Demyx! Wait up!" I yelled after him.

We were in a dark and gloomy tunnel with dark grey walls. The ground looked like a river of light grey water, but it was just a think fog heading down farther into the tunnel.

Demyx continued to run and run pulling his hood over his head and dashing around a turn in the tunnel. I sighed, pulled my hood up as well and chased after him.

I was running so fast that I barely noticed the three as I past them—a duck, a dog, and a boy my age coming into the tunnel from a separate path. I decided to forget about them for right now and catch up to the musician up ahead.

I rounded the corner and found myself slamming into a still-standing Demyx. I jumped up. "What's the big idea?" I said slapping him over the head.

I came in front of him and looked at his face. His bright shiny eyes were wide and stretched out. His mouth hung open. He slowly raised a pointed finger up. I followed his gesture and looked up to see a large hanging room high above us. It was like a cave with large openings in it. This large structure was none other than the home of the Lord of the Dead.

I smiled and walked up the path heading for it. I could hear Demyx gulp behind me before jogging to my side.

---------------------------------------------------

"Well if it isn't my buddy-oh-pal, Raene! How ya been?" The blue-skinned God said pulling me into a suffocating hug.

"Great! And you?" I said after he released me.

"Oh, you know—sent a few souls to their doom—the usual…And who's this?" He said looking over my shoulder.

I glanced backwards to see Demyx still standing in the doorway shaking like a baby.

"Hades, this if my good friend Demyx," I said motioning him to me.

Demyx shuffled forward and grabbed 'hold of my arm with a tight grasp like a little boy holding onto this mother.

"Please to meet ya!" Hades said jumping in front of us.

Demyx yelped. "Nice—nice to meet you too," he whispered.

"Ya guys want some drinks?" Hades asked after giving Demyx a strange look.

I nodded. Hades turned and walked down a shadowed hall. I turned to Demyx. "Chill," I spoke kindly. He nodded under his hood. He sat down in one of the hard stone chairs.

My eyes glanced around until they saw a golden medallion sitting in a glass case sitting upon a broken Olympian column. My eyes widened and then looked back at Demyx. I smiled and then gestured him to follow my gaze.

He did and looked back to see the medallion. It had a lightning bolt striking out of a cloud, the sign of the Gods, on it.

Demyx looked back at me. "No way!" he said quietly.

I nodded fiercely. "Now!" I mouthed to him. And I left the room to help Hades with the drinks.

Hades was coming back to me just as I turned into the hall carrying a platter with three glasses full of glowing blue liquid.

I spun around and walked back to the room where Demyx _should_ be done stealing the thing we needed to perfectly accomplish our goal.

Demyx was sitting back in the chair with his hood down. His face was sweating slightly.

"What's wrong with your friend?" Hades whispered to me setting the drinks down on a stone table. "He looks sick."

"He doesn't feel good. The change in altitude is affecting him," I replied. The truth was that he didn't wanna be caught but who knows, maybe he was feeling sick.

I drank my glass as Demyx slowly began to sip on his. I placed it down when it was empty ran up to the window. We were pretty high up. A green river of souls snaked around below Hades high home.

All of a sudden a huge three-headed dog jumped up in my face. "Cerberus!" I yelled sticking my head out the window. All three heads panted furiously as I pet them.

I spun around. Demyx was now curled up in a ball staring wide-eyed at the beast outside the window. I sighed and bounced over to him. He was never usually this scared. I grabbed his arm and pulled him to the window. I shoved his upper body out the window.

He closed his eyes and turned his face away. I grabbed his hand and slowly led it to Cerberus' soft, black fur. After his hand touched the dog he calmed down.

I pulled his hand back and removed the glove from his fingers. After doing so, I stuck his hand back out. He watched as his hand made contact with the happy dog. "Do you feel that?" I whispered to him.

He shook his head. "Do you?" he asked. He moved his hand out from under mine and placed it on top of mine instead.

I blushed slightly. I don't know why I did—maybe it was because I had had a dream about him and I was nervous. I hesitated before answering, "No. Not for a few a few days. Everything is slowly fading away."

I let my hand slip from under his. He pulled his hand away, placed the glove back on and then clung onto my arm again like a little kid. "Could we go now?" he whispered close to my ear.

I nodded to him. "Hades, I think you would like to know why Demyx and I have come here?" I said.

"I suppose…" Hades said.

"Well—I have come to understand that Sora, the Keyblade Master, is on his way here right now—roaming your Underworld. And that thousands of his allies are here to help—not too far behind him," I said lied.

"Really?" he said.

"I've come to offer assistance—you send your biggest and baddest heartless to fight his allies…and Demyx and I will deal with the key boy and his animal friends. How's that sound?" I said.

"Sounds like a plan," he replied.

"Well we really should be going. Thank you for allowing us to stop by. But the two of us should go deal with Sora so we can get home. It was great seeing you again, Hades."

"Stop by anytime, Raene," he called as Demyx and I left the room.

Demyx immediately started running down the steep slopes away from Hades' home. I sighed and fast-walked after him. Eventually he made it around the turn and I followed.

As I entered the tunnel I could see Demyx running past Sora and his companions screaming, "Run away!" He disappeared in a portal behind them. Sora and the others turned with confused faces as the hooded Nobody ran by. I giggled causing them to face me.

"Who are you?" Sora asked me.

I paused before answering. "I wish I could tell you, Sora. I really do," I said.

"You know me?" he asked.

"She's that Nobody from Hollow Bastion," Donald said pointing accusingly at me.

"Yeah. You're the girl that was with the guy who likes to confuse people," Sora said. I nodded to him. "What was with him? He said something about secrets about you–then he just wouldn't stop laughing," he continued.

"I don't think you wanna know my secrets, Sora," I said.

"Why not?" he asked.

"I don't know how you would react to them," I answered.

"Try me."

"Fine." I lifted my arms from my sides and suddenly two Keyblades appeared in my hands. They were pretty simple—shaped mostly like the Kingdom Key that Sora has only, in my opinion, more beautiful and more detailed. The blue part of Sora's Keyblade was also on mine. On my white Keyblade, that part was black and vise-versa. They were very shiny as well.

As my face looked upon theirs, their eyes lifted up. Their eyes wide with surprise. "How—I—you—What?" he said baffled. "How can you wield the Keyblade?" he asked.

"I won't bother telling you now. You'll find out sooner or later," I said making the keyblades disappear.

He let it drop at that. "Oh, I get it. You were gonna summon your keyblades on us back at Hollow Bastion but he held you back so you wouldn't let us see them, right?" he said. I nodded. "So then what was the other thing? He said that we shouldn't see your face. Come on, it can't be that ugly," he said laughing.

Within a split second I had summoned one of my keyblades pointed it at his feet and screamed, "Freeze!"

I put my weapon away as Donald attempted to melt the ice around Sora's feet with his magic while the other two also tried breaking the ice with their own weapons. I pulled my hood back and shook my head slightly letting the locks fall around my shoulders.

The three of them stopped their attempts at freeing Sora's feet to look up. "Am I supposed to know who you are?" Sora asked.

"Well, we thought that I might look like someone or well—the other reason wouldn't make any sense to you at this point," I said.

"Who are you supposed to remind me of?" he asked smashing the ice with his keyblade.

"Like I said before, you'll learn it sooner or later," I said.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"My name?" I asked.

He nodded.

"My name is Xarene," I said.

"That guy called you 'Rae' in Hollow Bastion," Sora said.

"Raene. My name is Raene also. Sora, let me ask you a question—have the islands changed a lot?"

"What?"

"I haven't been there for nine years—even though I wasn't there that long—I miss it so much. Has it changed a lot?"

"You used to live on Destiny Islands?"

"I guess you could say I lived there—but do Nobodies live?"

"I guess not—but no, I don't they've changed that much," he said.

"That's good," I said.

It was quiet for a moment before Sora started giggling. "What's so funny?" I asked.

"I was just thinking—there is no reason in you having those keyblades," he said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked placing my hands on my hips.

"You can't be that good of a fighter, can you?—I mean…you're a girl," he said.

"Sexist!" I said. Guys weren't the only ones who could fight. "You wanna see if I can fight or not?" I threatened.

"Sure," he said. The three of them got into fighting stance. I summoned both of my keyblades and prepared to fight.

I was about to attack when I laughed. I stood up straight and summoned away my keyblades. I then held my hand out with my palm down and my fingers spread about. I ran my hand from one side to the other making about a dozen Nobodies appear out of the ground.

"My own personal hybrid. They are the best of the best. I think you should hurry up with these and then get prepared to fight some of Hades' Heartless he'll be sending out," I said.

"So you're just gonna run away like a chicken?"

"Oh, I'm sure we'll be able to fight soon." I held my hand up and waved with bent fingers saying, "Bu-bye now," before disappearing into a portal.

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Man this is long. sighs Owww….my fingers hurt.

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I appeared in another dark and gloomy cave. This one was more open then the tunnel-like one I had just been in. The fog floated about the ground and reached up to my knees. I started to walk when I suddenly fell as if there had been a drop-off.

I thought quickly and did a flip in the air so that I landed, crouching on the ground with my knees bent and one hand pressed against the ground.

I looked up to see that I had indeed stepped off a cliff. The fog had hidden the ground from me. I stood and started to walk around the lower cave. It was like a labyrinth of dozens of tunnels and caves.

I wondered around for what seamed like forever until I came to the entrance to another cave. I looked in and saw Demyx with his hood up facing away from me. I walked up to him. He had the medallion in his hand and was fiddling with it. "What took you so long?"

"I ran into Sora," I simply said.

"What'd you say to him?" he asked.

"Nothing much—nothing important," I answered.

"You think we'll see him again while we're here?"

"He should be here soon—after he's done whatever it is he was plannin' on doing before we intruded. It took me like half and hour to find you but it won't take him that long—so, in other words, yes," I said.

"Okay," he said.

And, as if on queue, running footsteps came to our ears. Demyx spun around. I smiled—Demyx was gonna pay up. "You!" he said to Sora as he came into view. Here it is—two hundred munny. "Hold on—_Roxas_?" he said. I knew it.

"Who?" Sora said.

"Roxas?" he said again.

"What are you—_what_?" Sora said confused.

I tapped Demyx on the shoulder. "Pay up," I whispered while rubbing my fingers together for him to give me my cash.

Demyx reached in his pocket and pulled out a little piece of paper. "They told me that if worse comes to worse I should do this—'If the subject fails to respond, use aggression to liberate his true disposition,'" he read. "Wow, I may not make it outta this one."

Sora said something but I didn't catch it. Demyx returned the note to his pocket and pulled out some munny. He gave me two hundred and was about to place the stolen medallion away with the rest of the munny. "No Demi," I whispered sharply.

He looked up at me. "What?" he asked.

I grabbed his hand that had the medallion. "Use this. Add it to your strength and fight him," I said.

"Fight him?" he asked.

"Yes. You have to, it's your job," I said.

I let go of his hand and walked away. "And where are you going?" he said.

"I'll be right over here learning," I said leaning against the wall of the cave.

Demyx nodded. And held the medallion in front of him. "He's gotta be the thief!" Goofy yelled.

"Rude much?" Demyx said. He held the medallion higher and the power released out of it and surrounded him.

I watched as they began to fight. Demyx summoned his sitar and began to strum a few cords. Several water embodiments appeared and began to strike Sora and the others.

Sora tried to make his way through them to Demyx but Demyx just summoned more water. Demyx would always start out using defense. He would get his enemy used to that, and then begin to really fight.

After a few minutes of watching Sora's useless attempts to get to Demyx, I began to get bored. Fortunately, Demyx started to really attack Sora. He picked up his sitar and shot a huge wave at Sora. The brunette went flying backwards and hit the wall quite violently. The wave gathered up and became large walls of water. Demyx began to shoot these at the three and laughed as they were washed around the cave.

Sora made his way to Demyx and began to attack him with his keyblade. Demyx shielded himself with his sitar and was able to hit Sora with it a few times. Sora also was able to get a few hits in also.

After a few more minutes Sora swung his keyblade fiercely at Demyx. The musician dodged to avoid the blow but was hit on his shoulder pretty badly. He summoned away his sitar and stood up straight.

I walked over to him. "Good job, Demi," I said cheerfully placing my hand on his uninjured shoulder.

"Thanks," he said grinning.

"Hey, head on back. I'll meet you up in the entrance hall, okay?" I said to him.

He nodded and began to sink away into a portal. "Roxas…please come back to us," he said to Sora.

After he was gone I looked over at Sora. "You gonna fight now, or what?" he asked me.

"If that's what you want," I said summoning my keyblades. "But I need to get back soon, so could you make this quick, please?" I said.

He grinned and gestured Donald and Goofy away. I grinned back and took position to fight. I waited then jumped in the air heading straight for Sora. I pulled my weapons back and then brought them down upon him with as much power that I could conjure.

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**Sorry this one was so long guys. I haven't written one that long in a while I think. Man my hands hurt. I just wrote like half of that right now. I was gonna make it longer but I decided to cut it off there. Any how, thanks for reading. I'm gonna start working on chapter 20 soon. Love you all!!!**


	20. Lullaby Land

**IMPORTANT!!! READ ALL OF MEMO!!!**

**Ok, one, this is a short chapter...not really but kinda shorter than the others...actually, it's kinda long. I apologize for it but I have to put something up since it will be a while before my planned chapter is put up. **

**Here's some important things…**

**1. If anyone would like to draw a fanart of something for my story—please do. I really would like to show everyone and then say who did it. If you do, send me a message telling me where to get it, or a link to it. I stink at drawing so I can't do it myself. I tried, it didn't succeed. **

**2. This is chapter 20. I want everyone to celebrate. I've never ever ever forever never ever have stayed with a story this long before, so give me a pat on the back or something. **

**3. I wanna know if you guys have noticed anything in the chapters I put up. I put in some secret things, two that I can think of, in the past 7 chapters. You have to use your head to see these things. Message me if you think you have an idea. :) **

**4. Does anybody have any idea how to link something. Like on my profile (by the way, does anybody read the updates on my profile, just wondering), I have pics set to go to my photobucket account. Do you know how I can just put a word on there so that I don't have to link the whole webpage name? I think it looks messy the way it is. I have a mac computer, so if anybody knows who can help me with a mac, please do. **

**5. I really do apologize for this being a pointless chapter. I wanted to get on with it but—here's the problem. I had to go back and play the game over again to see what happens in what order, right. Well, my level isn't very high so I can't get past this one place. So I have to wait and raise Sora's level first. My apologies. Also, you know the world after Olympia and to go through the gummiship thing you have to fight that pick ship thing. How do you get past that?**

**Please if you can help me with any of the above things I would really appreciate it. Message me or put it in a review. Thank you very very much. Now on with the chapter!! Yay!!!**

**---------------------------------------------------**

I brought my keyblades down as hard as I could. Sora had placed his keyblade up to block my attack though. I swung sideways at him but he also got away unscathed by that. I got better at this though. I began hitting harder and harder.

Sora noticed the golden medallion on the ground. Demyx must've dropped it. I noticed too. We both dived at the same time but he got to it before me. He absorbed its power. Now I was left with a weakness. My strength was now lesser than his.

However, this didn't change the fight much. We stayed about even with the fighting. In fact, I was actually better seeming. I hit him several times, not even giving him time to recover. I hit him so badly that he flew backwards and out into the cave he entered from.

He came back in at full speed and brought his keyblades down upon me. I little sting trickled across my cheek and a warm liquid began to form at the skin.

The fighting became more and more intense as it went on. I swung one keyblade around and hooked Sora's neck around the dip of the blade. I pulled him close with it. I smirked in his face then spun the blade around in a circle. He, being stuck to it, spun as well. I lifted the keyblade, causing him to fly to the wall once more.

He lay motionless on the ground. "You know, it's not really fair with the uneven amount of weapons?" he said sighing deeply on his back by Donald and Goofy.

"Fine," I said. "Pick a color."

"Choosing a keyblade?" he asked sitting up slightly. I nodded. "I pick black," he said. "I'm not gonna fight the light," he spoke relating to my white keyblade. "I'll fight the darkness."

"You don't get it, do you, Sora?" I said. "You think Nobodies are of the darkness. We're not. That would be Heartless. We are neither because we don't exist," I said. Sora gave me a curious look. "But if that's you want…" I said making the white keyblade disappear.

I lunged at him with one weapon. He jumped up as I neared him and we continued our duel. The tables turned at this point. I was doing well for a few more minutes but then Sora _cheated_. "Sora, use your Drive!" Donald called from the sides.

Sora and I paused and looked back at the duck. I raised an eyebrow. "Drive?" I said. "What's a Drive?"

It was answered for me. Sora stood back and threw himself into the air. A flash of bright colors surrounded him. When they faded, he was standing on the ground again. His clothes were now red and he carried two keyblades instead of one.

'So what? He's got another keyblade. I can take him,' I thought. I was wrong though. Sora dived at me all-too-quickly and struck me hard with his weapons. Apparently, he had gotten faster with this _Drive_ of his.

I flew back wards and hit my head hard on the cave wall. I slid down and rested on my back. I couldn't open my eyes or move for that matter. "Giving up?" Sora asked.

My eyes flashed open. "Not a chance," I said. I stood up and stabbed my keyblade into the ground. Sora watched me as I removed my cloak and threw it to the ground. I took of my gloves and threw them on top of the cloak. I glanced at my fingernails.

'Eww,' I thought. The paint on my nails was now reduced to small blotches of paint in the center of each nail. 'I'll have to take that off,' I decided.

I dived at him just as he had, and attacked him with the greatest strength I had used yet with him. He did the same. He hit me several times causing several quick shots of pain to sear through my body. After several minutes of nothing but pain occurring to the two of us, I got bored.

I stepped back as I was about to take a blow at him. I summoned the white keyblade and pointed them at a familiar angle inward towards each other. "I wish I had my two favorite keyblades with me. You'd be begging for mercy by now if I had them," Sora said.

"Which ones would those be?" I asked.

"Oathkeeper and Oblivion," he said.

"I miss those two keyblades," I said.

"_You _have them?" he said.

"No…but I used to train against them almost everyday," I said. Boy, did I love confusing him.

His Drive had disappeared a few minutes ago, but he did it again and took a stance saying that he was ready to fight more. I just smirked at his gestured. I concentrated and then two beams of light extended out of the ends of my keyblades. They met in the middle and rested there for a minute.

"What the…?" Sora said to himself.

I was angry. I'm not sure why, but I wanted nothing more then to shoot him right where he stood and rid him from existence. I had some strange idea that if I did so, Roxas might—just _might_ come back. Then we could be together again. Although I wanted to destroy him at the moment, I didn't. I did, however, shoot nonetheless.

As the light continued as one beam in front of me, I quickly tilted it upwards. The light hit the cave ceiling. Hundreds of rocks began to shower down upon Sora and his friends burying them, but not killing them. I smiled with my act and grabbed my other clothes. I slipped them on and disappeared into the corridor of darkness.

---------------------------------

I walked out of the portal into the main lobby. Demyx was there sitting at the base of the grand marble staircase. His right shoulder's sleeve was ripped off and laying at his feet. He was casually rubbing it from his injury.

He stood and walked over to me. "How'd it go?" he said.

"Good," I simply replied. I turned him around and placed both of my hands on his shoulders. I pushed my thumbs into his upper back. "Oww—ooh…it doesn't hurt anymore," he said. He rolled his shoulders while sighing.

He turned back around to me as I took a few steps back. He smiled thanking me. Then his eyes got wide. "Raene! What happened?" he said. He pointed to my waist.

I looked down. There was a huge gash in my side. It tore through the black material all the way to the skin where dried blood could be seen. I hadn't felt it at all. 'When did Sora do that?' I asked myself.

I carefully removed my cloak. It didn't hurt much, but I guess that was because I wasn't feeling anything at all lately. At least my memories were clear and I could feel emotions still. My shirt was somewhat soaked around the wound with dried blood.

Demyx told me to sit down so I did. I rested on the bottom step of the marble staircase. He knelt down in front of me. He pinched a bit of the fabric and pulled it away from my skin, examining the area. He then moved his hand to the bottom of my shirt. "Do you mind?" He asked.

I shook my head. He then lifted the shirt up just so he could see the wound. "That's strange," he said.

"What is?" I asked.

"The wound. It should still be bleeding for you. But look…" he said. He took the scrap of his shirt from the floor and pressed it against the cut. "Nothing happens. No blood comes out. It's as if there is no blood inside of you anymore. It's all dried now and the wound has started to create a scar to heal itself."

"You think it has to do with the fact…well, that I'm—wait," I said.

"What?"

"You _do_ know that—well what's happening to me, right?"

"Yeah, I heard about it," he said.

"Well, do you think it has something to do with that?"

"Probably."

"Comes with being a Nobody, huh?"

"Come on. We better get something on this," he said. "Can you walk?" he asked.

"Yes, Demi. It's just a scratch," I said. He nodded and grabbed my cloak and his shirt scrap and we headed down the hall. I was about to turn down the hall that leads to the infirmary, but Demyx guided me down the other hallway. "Where are we going?" I asked him.

"There hasn't been any medicine in the infirmary for almost a year, we have to go to the source of our medicine," he answered.

"And where would that be?" I asked.

Before he could answer, he had opened a door and led me inside. The room was pretty simple from what you could see. It had a bed, a chair and a dresser. The room, however, turned around a corner. Demyx walked that way. I followed and found myself in a much more complex room. There was a desk covered with several flasks and beakers. Some were filled with several different colored liquids. Dozens of cabinets lined the walls. Inside were the same contents of the desk's surface. There were jars inside the cabinets too with unknown things filling them.

"Is this Vexen's room?" I asked.

"Yep," he answered rifling through the cabinets.

"It sure looks different," I said. I walked up to the desk and looked at it. Just like the library, there was a good inch or two of dust covering its surface.

"I got it," Demyx said.

I turned. "What?" I asked.

"This potion will fix that wound right up," he answered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Last time you messed with these potions, you were in the infirmary for two months," I said.

"And it wasn't because of the potion itself, either. Xemnas nearly broke every bone in my body after he got cleared up," he said smiling.

"We thought Xemnas was never gonna come outta his room again—after what you did to his face," I said.

"At least we all got a good laugh out of it," he said.

I smiled. Demyx pointed to the bed. I sat down and lifted up the corner of my shirt. Demyx popped the top off the bottle. He was about to pour some one my wound when he placed a drop on my cheek. "You have a cut here," he said. He then let two or three drops fall against the cut on my waist. It didn't sting fortunately.

He placed the top back on the bottle and returned it to the cabinet. He went over to the desk and grabbed some gauze and tape and bandaged the wound while it healed. He left through a portal and returned a few seconds later holding up a shirt and cloak for me and a shirt for himself.

Demyx pulled the rest of his shirt and slipped the new one on. I motioned for him to turn around while I changed. He turned back around after giving me a reasonable amount of time to change and started for the door. I followed him feeling much better already—not that I wasn't before.

I followed him for a while, just wandering around. I soon began to feel really sleepy all of a sudden. I didn't believe that I was, since I shouldn't be able to feel at all. It was strange that, as we continued to walk, I felt as if I would collapse at any moment. My head began to spin and the room became a swirling tornado of white and silver and the occasional black of Demyx in front of me.

Then before I could react, I had hit the floor. My head smashed into the cold marble and everything went black. I could still hear, however. Demyx was calling my name. "Raene! Raene! Open your eyes!"

Then I heard another familiar voice. "Demyx! What happened?" he said. _Axel…_ I opened my eyes to see two desperate looking faces above me.

"Raene! What happened?" Axel said lifting me up and placing my head in his lap.

"I'm—I'm fine, Axel. It's nothing," I said sitting up while placing a palm against the part of my head where I hit the floor. "I just got dizzy, that's all."

Axel didn't believe me and you could see it on his face. He turned to Demyx with a face saying 'Ok, what _really_ happened?'

"She got hurt on the mission and we fixed it up with a potion from Vexen's room," he said.

"Demi!" Axel shouted. "Do you have any idea how defected those probably are? They're a year old?"

"I'm fine," I said again.

"I'm taking you to bed," Axel said picking me up. Demyx jumped up too and helped Axel bridle-style carry me. I was sandwiched between the two of them.

"No, no. I have to go with Demi and tell Superior about the mission," I said.

"You need to rest," Axel persisted. Demyx knew better then to join either side in the argument. Either side he decided to back up, the other one would get mad at him.

"No. Please, Axel. You let me go real quick then you can take me, ok?" I said.

He wasn't sure but he finally agreed, but with one condition—I wasn't allowed to walk; I would have to be carried. "I'll only have to carry you for a while anyway—the joys of teleporting," Axel said taking me completely in his arms and out of Demyx's.

"Might wanna take a rain check on that, guys," a voice said. We all turned to see Luxord walking up the hall. "The corridor is down, walking is the only way to go for now."

"You mean they don't work? They always work," Demyx pouted.

"Well lately it's been getting harder and harder to travel. It should be fixed momentarily," he said.

"Fine. Let's go Demyx; we gotta long walk ahead of us," Axel said starting to walk.

"Actually Axel, I need you help with something. You mind?" Luxord said.

Axel sighed and turned around again. "Nah, I guess not. Demyx, you think you can carry her until I catch up?" Axel said.

"Yeah," he replied. Axel placed me back in Demyx's arms. This was getting really annoying. I could walk faster than this. "She's not _that_ heavy…" he said. I playfully smacked him on the chest with the back of my hand. Demyx started to walk and I slowly relaxed.

You know that feeling when you are slowly falling in and out of sleep? The feeling where you're in a loud room, and you could easily fall asleep? But every time you do, you jump back up because everything seamed really loud. Well that's what happened to me as he carried me—except it was silent besides the quiet tapping of his shoes against the marble floor.

This feeling I got made me feel lightheaded and sleepy. I wrapped my arms around Demyx's neck because it felt like I was gonna fall out of his arms. The feeling also made me think a lot. _Was this feeling a real feeling? It shouldn't be—I'm not supposed to feel.—How long was it till I would disappear? How would I disappear? Slowly fade away like flecks of paper? Become transparent more and more? Or would one day I would be there then disappear like a popped bubble the next? _

I tried to stop thinking this way but it all came back when I placed my head against Demyx's chest. It was quiet so I would be alert to the smallest sound. I was. All of a sudden, I heard a small _thump, thump_ coming from inside of Demyx. _A heart._ Then I heard it over and over again. _Why was I hearing this? Demyx didn't have a heart. Nobodies can't have hearts. So why was I hearing it?—Maybe I was just imagining it. The dizziness was making me hear things, yes, that's it. _

Finally I heard Axel's voice in the distance. "Hey guys," he said.

"Hey," Demyx said. "What did Luxord want help with?"

"I'm not quite sure. He made me go in his room and move like twenty boxes from where they were to like five feet away."

"Were they heavy?"

"No. Each box had like two packs of unopened packs of playing cards in each," he said. "Ya want me to carry her the rest of the way?"

"Sure, go ahead," Demyx replied.

"Can I try to stand?" I asked opening my eyes.

Axel looked at me with worried eyes. He waited a minute before finally saying, "Fine."

Demyx let me down. I stood for only a few seconds before spinning one hundred eighty degrees around and landing in the same position that I was in Demyx's arms only, now I was in Axel's. There must be something really wrong with me.

He lifted me up and started heading to the staircase in front of us. Demyx skipped ahead of us and started up the marble steps. Axel paused at the bottom to shift his weight and lift me higher in his arms before following the musician. I wrapped my arms around Axel's neck with the fear that I might fall out, which was impossible—Axel wouldn't ever let me fall.

I pulled myself up higher into a ball-like shape to feel more secure, nonetheless. I rested my head against him. My nose could barely touch his collarbone and my ear was placed over his chest. Strangely, I could have sworn I heard a _thump, thump_ coming from deep inside of him just like Demyx, but I decided to let the thought pass.

Soon we came to the top of the steps and rested. We were in front of a large white oak door. Demyx stepped forward and knocked three times on the hard surface. We waited before a voice welcomed us. Demyx opened the door and we entered.

Everyone was there—Xemnas, Xigbar, Xaldin, Saïx, and Luxord—wait. Luxord? All five were sitting at the table in the middle of the old Meeting Chamber playing cards.

"Luxord? What are you doing here?" Axel asked. He placed me down slowly. I clung on to him not wanting to let go. He pulled my arms away from his neck and stood me in front of him. I felt like falling over but Axel placed both of his hands on my hips to steady me.

"It's funny. Right after you left, the portals started working again," Luxord said.

"So…how was the mission you two?" Xemnas asked.

Demyx was waiting for me to say something but I just gave him a look. He sighed before speaking. "We engaged the enemy, sir."

"You?" he asked. Demyx nodded. "And you, Xarene?" Xemnas asked. I nodded as well. "Well, that's good. We finally got to test the boy's strength. How is he?"

"Good, sir," I said. "He's quite difficult to fight. Demyx and I both barely made it out without serious injury."

"Well that's good," he said. He placed down three cards.

Luxord handed him a card. "Sorry Superior, but you were talking this whole time and you aren't the Mow Master," Luxord said.

"You were talking too," he said.

He handed him another card. "Yes. But _I'm _the Mow Master—not you." Saïx placed down a card then Luxord handed him one.

Saïx just sighed, took the card and continued to wait for the next person's turn. Luxord snickered and handed him another card. Saïx grunted and grabbed the card given to him. Luxord snickered again and handed him a card once more. "Silly, Saïx. You have to say 'Spam.'"

"What?" Saïx said.

"Just say 'Spam' and move on," Xigbar whispered to the blue-haired Nobody.

Saïx said 'spam,' Luxord handed both men a card for talking and continued on with the game.

Axel lifted me back into his arms while Demyx summoned a portal. We entered and found ourselves in my room. Axel set me down on the bed and pulled the cloak off over my head while Demyx removed my shoes, socks, and gloves. They then tucked me under the bed and prepared to leave.

"Wait…" I said reaching out to them. They turned. "Axel…will you sing me a lullaby?"

Axel looked so confused. "Why?"

"I need a lullaby right now," I said.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't wanna talk about it. But could you?"

"I'm sorry Raene, I don't know any lullabies," he said kneeling down next to my bed.

"Demyx?" I asked. Demyx kneeled down on my other side. He sighed and began to sing just loud enough for me to hear him. I couldn't understand the words because I was quickly drifting asleep. I heard Axel get up and wind the music box.

As the tune filled the room, Demyx stopped singing and they both left after saying goodnight.

I then slowly fell asleep. My mind wandered into the lovely world of dreams. Here, my fears melted away into oblivion and I wasn't scared or sad. The only emotions I could feel were ones of happiness. I fell completely asleep.

I went to my sanctuary of dreams…

My world of make believe…

My land of lullabies…

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**So? What did ya guys think of chapter twenty? Huh? Huh? **

**Please be sure to read the memo above and answer anything you can in a review or private message. I want a review from everyone who sets their eyes upon this. **

**Chapter 21 will not be out for probably a month. I'm so sorry. But—that's life. I love you all! Thanks for reading!**

**PS—you get a cookie for knowing what the game of Mow is : )**


	21. La Mort de le Vent

Hi everybody! Sorry for the long wait. I apologize a lot. Now, I have some fanart of Raene on my profile. I should be getting another one soon. Also, sorry for this chapter being out of order of the game sequence. Yes, there is a death, it's sad…actually I'm not all that sad about it. I just wanted this guy to die so I could go and get it done with—instead of later. Man, that sounded bad, didn't it? Oh well. Enjoy!

PS I noticed I haven't put this on any chapters but…

-----I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of that stuff.

But is that really necessary? How could a simple girl like me come up with it, right? RIGHT?

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Axel and I were sitting in one of the many lounges in the castle. We had been sitting there for the past hour or so just talking. It had been a few weeks since Demyx and I had seen Sora. It turned out that the potion Demyx gave me for my wound was, in fact, expired. I was out of the infirmary in two days. Xemnas had been observing Sora and Xaldin had gone off on some mission yesterday to continue trying to turn one of Sora's friends into a Heartless. Everything was going normal.

Axel and I sat cross-legged in two large, white, plush chairs facing each other. We had been talking about the past few weeks and how my progress was going. I explained that I truly couldn't feel anything now. None of the nerves under my skin picked up touch and neither did any emotions pass through my mind.

I also had found out that I had a different element. Very strange. I had always thought it was weird to have the elements of Fate and Destiny. But it turns out that my true element linked to those two things. My gift was similar to Naminé's in the way that she could alter the memories of others. I had the somewhat ability to alter people's decisions. But since I had never known this before, I wasn't very good at it. Apparently, if I concentrated really hard I could make a person consider a decision and maybe even pull through with it. Xemnas had told me that this ability was not so much a gift as it was a curse. The way he described it was a lot like I had heard DiZ tell Naminé that he thought her gift was a curse and that making her a witch. He said that my gift would bring turmoil, death, and destruction instead of good things. He said that this gift was a way to bring upon someone's fate or destiny.

It had been quiet for the past few minutes but Axel spoke up again. "Have you seen your sister lately?"

I was puzzled by his question for a while before I understood what he meant by it. "Actually…" I giggled slightly but not in a funny way.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Nothing. It's just…I now realized that the last time I saw my sister was the last time I probably ever would—and I didn't realize then."

"What do you mean?"

"Every time I had those visions, I wasn't actually seeing her. I was seeing the world through her eyes. So unless I was looking in a mirror or my reflection in the water, I wasn't really seeing Kairi. The last time I had had a vision like that was more than a year ago—back before Sora went to sleep—right after Kairi had gotten back to the islands. When we were in Twilight Town a few weeks ago, I had a different vision. I saw Kairi as a different person that time. I just realized that that was probably the last time I would ever see Kairi again. Being a Nobody, I don't have a heart that's connecting us."

"You'll see her again," Axel said looking at me with a small smile.

"Hmm," I said.

"You don't seam so upset about it," he said.

"Nobody…" I said not having to finish my sentence.

"You don't feel sad that you're fading away? That sooner or later you'll be gone forever?" he said.

"You're not making it sound any better?" I said coldly looking at him.

"I didn't mean it like that," he said apologetically. "It's just that, even the other Nobodies have been able to feel some sadness, as well as anger and happiness. Why is it that you can't—at all?" He looked away and stared at the fireplace that was flaming to his left.

I waited, thinking about my reply before speaking. "I know I should feel those things right now—the mere sadness and all but I can't." I said.

"Not anything?" he said still not looking at me.

"Nothing," I replied staring at him deeply wanting his eyes to meet my gaze. "It's strange…"

"What is?" he said suddenly turning his green orbs from the orange flames.

"Don't take this personally but—well, I know that with you—and Roxas, and Naminé—and Kairi and the others—I know that I love you guys more than anything. But—if I think about it, and truly try to feel that emotion I can't. It's like—it's like you and the others are nothing but acquaintances and that I don't love you," I said.

Axel's eyes fell back to the flames. They seamed to be dancing enchantingly within the bright colors. Almost mesmerized by them. "Like I said, don't take it personally," I said quietly.

"I wish there was some way I could help," he said quietly from across the room.

I smiled just before I heard a voiced coming from outside the lounge. "Xarene! Axel!" Both Axel and I straightened up and sat up in our chairs to see over the tall armrests at the door opposite the fireplace. Running footsteps became louder and louder until the double doors flew open with such force that the flames wisped away. Demyx stood with a disturbed look on his face.

"You!" he yelled. He ran up to me. I made to stand up but he grabbed my wrist before my butt left the chair. He yanked me from the seat and spun me around to grab Axel's wrist in his other hand. By the time I was done spinning, he turned the other direction towards the still open doors, yanking me with a crazy pull on my arm socket. The quick spinning reminded me of a sick game of crack-the-whip.

Demyx dragged us down the hall. Axel and I had managed to free our sore wrists from his grasp. Demyx, having free hands, began to intertwine his fingers together with the same disturbed look on his face growing stronger.

"Demyx, what's up?" Axel asked. When he didn't answer, Axel raised an eyebrow at me and asked him again.

Demyx gulped. "It's terrible," he said. All three of us stopped—Axel and I waiting for him to explain. "Sora…"

"Yes?" I said.

"He—and then Xaldin…" he paused again.

"Yes?" I said more impatient.

"Oh, it was terrible!" he said throwing his arms in the air. The next thing I knew, there was a loud, high-pitched cracking sound. I looked at Demyx after shutting my eyes from the sound. Demyx was thrown back on this butt and his face was thrown to the side and a large red handprint was planted on his cheek. I turned to Axel. He was breathing deeply, his shoulders rising with each intake of air.

"Damnit, Demyx! What it is?!" he said kneeling down by him.

I kneeled down as well. "Sor…Sora…he…he killed…Xaldin…" Demyx said quietly.

Axel and I both pulled back from the musician and stared blankly at him. I brought my hands up and covered my mouth with shock. "How…how could that happen?" I said. Demyx didn't say anything. He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly back and forth as if trying to pretend that it wasn't true.

"Xaldin was the best. How could Sora defeat him? No one could beat Xaldin," Axel said after a minute.

I just sat there completely still for the longest time. No one said anything either. Finally I spoke up after it had taken effect. "So what now?"

"We have to go tell Xigbar," Demyx replied.

Axel stood up and reached out both of his hands, helping us up. "Does everyone else know?" he asked. Demyx nodded. "Why do we have to tell him?" he asked also.

"Because that's what the others told me to do," Demyx replied.

"Well, we better get going then," I said quietly.

Axel raised a finger and placed it on the tip of his nose in an innocent way. I looked peculiarly at him and then glanced at Demyx who was looking at Axel. Demyx turned his eyes to me, smiled then followed Axel's gesture by placing his finger on his nose. Now I realized why they were doing this. "No! Not me! I can't!" I said backing away.

"You have to," Axel said taking his finger off his nose.

"Why me?" I asked desperate.

"One, because you were the last to put a finger on their nose. Two, you are the best person for the job. And three, we're your superiors and we order you," Axel said.

I looked at Demyx. He took his finger off his nose as well and smiled teasingly at me. "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I have to be the one to break it to his _best_ friend," I said.

"It's not just because you're a girl. It's because you really are the best person to do it," Demyx said.

"Wasn't Xigbar the one who practically raised you when you came here?" I asked Axel.

"Besides Zexion…yeah pretty much. What's your point?" he replied.

"You should do it then," I said not giving up this argument.

"No you should do it," Axel said, "You're good at handling bad news."

"Not true," I said.

"Oh really?" he said placing his hands on his hips in a rather girly way.

"You remember when Roxas and Naminé went away?" I said coldly. Axel's expression changed then. His hands went back to his sides and the smirk left his face. "Yeah. You came back from Castle Oblivion and told me that Naminé would be gone for a while. I was fine—I understood perfectly. Then a little bit later Roxas leaves. He says he has to learn the truth. It was hard saying good-bye to him, you know? I thought I would be ok with it because I knew that you would be there to comfort me as I would be there for you." I took a deep breath and continued. "But I was wrong. You fell apart after he left. I did too but I decided that I needed to be strong for you. You know why? Because you were better friends with him than I was. You had been friends for six more years than I had and I knew that I was going to have to be strong because you were the one who needed the comforting and not me. So I put all the sadness behind me and focused on being there for you. But you just pushed me away and wouldn't let anyone try to be close to you. After you wouldn't let me in I fell apart all over again. I became broken inside like I had before and had to pull myself together once again and it wasn't easy for me. So to answer your question—no…I'm not good at handling bad news, Axel—and I never have been. A little bit of me has been lost with each bad news."

It became silent in the hall then. No one made a sound; not even our breathing could be heard. Axel stared expressionless at me for the longest time until he said, "I'm sorry, Xarene." That was the first time he had called me that and meant it to be my name. I was rather surprised by it. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you—I'm sorry I didn't let you close to me and I'm sorry for everything else. But right now we need to deal with informing Xigbar of this misfortune." And with that he turned and walked down the hall.

Demyx followed him and left me alone in the white hallway. I waited a few minutes calming myself down before fast walking after the two towards the training room. A few minutes later we arrived at the large room. Inside was Xigbar floating high above the ground. He held his two snipers in his hands and was shooting bright purple beams at several Dusks scattered around the dirty tiled floor. I walked forward as the two brotherly figures stood by the doors still as stone.

"Hey, Xarene," the Freeshooter said landing on the ground after sending the lower Nobodies away. "What's up?"

"Well, I was wanting to talk to you, you gotta a minute?" I said trying not to sound too obvious.

"Yeah, sure," he replied. All of a sudden two chairs made of the floor tiles sprung out of the ground. I sat down in one as Xigbar sat in the other, his arms hanging loosely by his side, the snipers still in his hands. "So what did ya wanna talk about?"

"Well—I kinda have some bad news," I said. I had no other way to put it. I thought it would be the best to just say it.

"What kinda bad news?" he asked getting curious.

"Well…" I looked over my shoulder at Demyx and Axel who were still standing still by the doors a good fifty feet away. I then turned back to Xigbar.

His face was changed from a curious one to a somewhat shocked one. "This can't be happening…" he said. He slouched down in his chair and threw his head back closing his one good eye.

I stared at him, confused. "What?"

"It's way too obvious," he said still not opening his eye. "Why else would they send the youngest members here and, the only girl for that matter, to tell me some bad news?"

"I…I…" but I didn't get to finish.

"You know, Xarene? Xaldin was my best friend," he said. I was surprised that he figured it out without me having to say anything. All of a sudden he dropped the two guns in his hands to the ground with a loud clatter. "Long before the two of us even became Nobodies we were best friends. Back when the founding members all worked together under the same man, we were friends. We were always together just like you younger members." I smiled. I could tell that he was enjoying pleasurable memories of his past years as a real person with his best friend in the whole world. He sat up some in his chair and opened up his one golden eye. "Did you know that us founding members all lived in your hometown?"

"Really?" I asked.

"Mmhmm. We worked for your king—not your father, but the king that took over after your father's death," he said.

"I had no idea," I said quietly.

"We knew your father though and quite well. After all, he was still King when we lived there. This was before we became Nobodies. The six of us didn't become nonexistent until around the time your parents got married—a few years before you were born. Just missed you by a few years." I smiled and so did he. "At least he's in a better place now. He's with the others—his other friends and all of them. He's whole now."

"That he is," I said agreeing. He was after all in a heaven of some sorts, hopefully. He was with Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Marluxia, and Larxene. He was with the rest of his family. We would be soon to join him.

"So what now?" he said standing up.

"I dunno," I replied. I looked over my shoulder and motioned for Axel and Demyx to come over. They didn't move. I thought this was a perfect time to test out my element. I concentrated really hard and within a few seconds I heard their footsteps nearing. As soon as they arrived next to me, Saïx appeared through a portal right by us.

"Well then. Let us proceed," he said stepping next to his superior, Xigbar.

"What?" Axel asked.

"I'm going to take Xigbar with me. We're going to have a funeral. You all will dress accordingly and then Axel will bring you two there," he said pulling Xigbar into a portal with him with an arm around his shoulders.

"A funeral?" Demyx said.

"Where?" I asked.

"I know where. It's in Xemnas' private quarters. I followed Luxord in once and saw the place where Saïx is talking about. Where to for clothes? I thought this would be good enough—they're all black," Axel said motioning to the clothes he was wearing.

"I have clothes, follow me," I said stepping through a portal. I always had the feeling that we would need funeral clothes one day. It wasn't that I was looking forward to it, but this was our first one and I wanted to see what everyone looked like in a different outfit. We arrived in my room. I went over to my bed and reached under pulling out one of the dozens of boxes below it. I placed the box on the sheets and took the top off. Inside where fifteen outfits one for all thirteen members, Naminé, and myself. They were all black, but more formal nonetheless. I pulled out two normal suits and handed them to the two boys next to me. They took the outfits in their hands and stared at them, since they never really had worn anything besides the Organization's uniform. I pulled out mine and stepped into a portal that led to another part of the castle to change. I returned a few minutes later through a portal to find the two changed as well.

They both had on the simple black tuxedoes. Axel, with his back facing me, was straightening Demyx's tie. Demyx poked him on the shoulder, telling him to turn around. They looked me up and down and I must've turned a bright shade of pink because they didn't take their eyes off of me for quite some time. It wasn't that different. It was a simple black, long-sleeve dress. The sleeves were somewhat poofy at the shoulders but not too much. The skirt part of the dress flowed out and came half way down my thigh. The waist was rather corset looking and tied in a big bow on the back. I had on black stockings that stopped right before the bottom of my dress and there were a pair of short black boots on my feet.

"So…let's go then. We don't want to keep the others waiting," I said trying to forget the fact that they were still staring at me. Axel got some sense knocked into him and walked over by my side, dragging Demyx over too.

"Ok. Now, listen—once we get there, you can't go walking around. This place is basically still forbidden, so stay in the area, ok, you two?" Axel said. We nodded. Axel pulled me to his right and Demyx to his left and escorted us through the portal.

We arrived in a room unfamiliar to Demyx and me. The first thing I noticed was a red panel on the ground. Engraved on it were a few spears and the words "The Whirlwind Lancer" written next to it. It was a lot like a grave to me. Saïx and Xemnas stood to the right of the grave while Luxord and Xigbar stood to the left. All of them were dressed almost identically to each other—a full black tuxedo.

I quickly glanced around to realize that we were in a rather small place. I was sure that the room we were in was bigger, but there were white curtains around the space to block off the rest of the room. Through the curtains I could see several blue and red lights shining from the ground. _Were there more graves like this one?_ I asked myself. My thoughts were put on hold as Saïx began yelling.

"What are you doing here?!" he asked stomping the three feet distance over to us.

"Uh, you told me to bring them here…" Axel said.

"Not them! You! What are YOU doing here?!" he yelled.

"Uh…umm…" he stuttered. "Am I not supposed to be here?"

"No." He replied blankly. It was quite. Xemnas walked over with no expression while Luxord and Xigbar stood by the grave. "Oh, don't tell me you don't remember," he said. It was quite again. "You're not a member of the Organization, Axel!"

"What?" Axel spat.

"You were kicked out, Axel. You're but dust to the rest of us," he said angrily.

"Not true! I wasn't kicked out! I'm still a member but…"

"But you can consider yourself an outcast!" Saïx interrupted. "I'm fully aware of what your punishment was—I sentenced it along with Xemnas. One more mishap and the maximum punishment will be carried out," Saïx threatened.

"Just because you're one above me in superiority doesn't mean you get to boss me around, Saïx!" Axel yelled.

"Oh, I think it does, Number 8!" he yelled back with equal loudness. "I'm your superior whether you like it or not and I can easily sentence you to that punishment we dare not speak. Come now, Axel—you wouldn't really leave Xarene and Demyx here…" Saïx pulled us two said people to his side. "…Without a big brother would you?" Axel said nothing. He was defeated with this argument. "Good. Now, not another word. Get out; I'll bring these two back later."

"Superior!" I said out of nowhere. I released myself Saïx's grasp and turned to Xemnas who had been listening this whole time to the bickering. "You won't really let Number 7 send him away will you?"

"Superior, you know he should not be allowed here. Send him away or carry out the maximum punishment," Saïx said.

"You're not his superior, Saïx—he's yours," I said to the blue-haired Nobody. I directed my attention back to the highest of us all. "Xemnas, sir, please let Axel stay for just this once. I understand why he shouldn't but this is a special occasion. It is a time of mourning and we should all be together for this. Please, Superior."

"Superior?" Saïx said.

"Superior?" I said with the same tone.

"Xemnas?" Saïx said with more greediness.

"My Lord?" I said just above a whisper.

Xemnas looked back and forth between us. I thought he was gonna take Saïx's side when all of a sudden he said, "I'm going to have to agree with Number 14 on this one Saïx. It is a special occasion an we all be here for it."

Why we had all been calling each other by numbers instead of our names was the first thing that came to my mind when I realized that Xemnas had allowed Axel to stay. I smiled and walked over to Axel's right side and Demyx returned to his left.

"But…my Lord? He…" Saïx began to stay but Xigbar interrupted him. 

"Could we please just get on with this?!" the sniper said from his position next to the grave. "I've heard enough bickering for one day. Saïx, stop trying to get Axel kicked out! Why you're always at each other's throats is a mystery to me. But, right now I just want you to shut up so we can go on and have this funeral. As your superior, I order you to zip your mouth and get over next to this grave right now!"

It was quiet for a while. Xemnas smirked and took his original place next to the grave. Saïx followed and the rest of us walked up to the front of the grave and bowed our heads as Xemnas started to talk.

"Well, this is a bit new to us all. We have lost five members in the past but this is the first time we actually have had a funeral of some sorts. It was because of certain circumstances that we didn't for our departed former members." Xemnas said is a serious tone. "We all are gathered to pay respect to Xaldin, Number 3, The Whirlwind Lancer, Master of the element Air and Wind, Lord of the Dragon Nobodies, and one of our best fighters. He was killed early today by Sora, the powerful Keyblade wielder. Sora is, as of Xaldin's death, an enemy to Organization XIII. He never was, he was just a pawn in our game but now we will push him to his limits until his broken to the point that he will just give us what we want—hearts." There was a long pause. "Xaldin will be missed dearly. But we must think of him knowing that he is with the rest of our members in _our_ heaven—the place where us heartless, soulless, being-less people go. He is with Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion—all good friends from his past life as well as this life. He is also with Marluxia and Larxene. Even though his is gone we will continue to work for our goal. Once we become whole again, we can find a way to bring them all back and make them whole as well." We all sat quietly taking in his words.

Xigbar stepped in front of Axel, Demyx, and I and bent down on one knee on the ground in front of the grave. His non-gloved fingers carefully grazed the top of the lit-up panel as he squeezed his eyes shut, letting a single tear flow down his scarred cheek.

I moved to go over next to him but Axel placed a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him. He just gave me a look saying 'stay here, he needs to be alone'. But I didn't listen. I shrugged his hand off and kneeled down on the ground curling my legs under me. Xigbar was quiet as a second tear trickled down his cheek. I raised a hand up and placed it gingerly on his back. He opened his eye and turned to me. _He could feel that? I wouldn't be able to if I were him._ He smiled at me saying a silent 'thank you'. I smiled back, answering a silent 'your welcome'.

Luxord bent down on Xigbar's other side. "Come on, Xigbar. Let's get ready to leave. It's been a long day," he said. Xigbar nodded and stood up. I stood as well and went back to Axel's side. Axel put his arms around Demyx's and my shoulders with a slight hug.

Everyone slowly disappeared in black portals. Axel summoned a portal. It slowly grew larger around our feet, quietly swallowing us. As the room became unrecognizable by the black colors around my vision I whispered the words, "Goodnight, my brother."

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**Ow, my hands hurt. Like I said…sorry for the wait. Hope you all enjoyed this one. Check my profile often for updates and such. This chapter is title thanks to Megan. Thank you! I couldn't come up with a chapter name. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! **

Love, Sarah 


	22. Axel's Plan

Hey everybody! Chapter 22 as promised. Enjoy

Oh and I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of that. :)

And did anyone get those two mystery things I mentioned in the chapter 20 memo? Go and read what I wrote and continue to look. I wanna see if anyone can get it. :)

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The door to my room opened behind me. I heard my guest's feet travel slowly across the room. "Hello, Axel," I said while putting yet another thumbtack into the wall.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked. I turned around to see him spinning around and looking at my newly decorated walls.

"Putting some color into this monochrome place," I replied.

"Is this where you've been for the past day?" he asked. I nodded. "No sleeping?"

I shook my head. "Can't sleep, remember?" I said laughing.

He turned to see my bed completely made and untouched. "So _why_ exactly are you doing this again?" he asked after facing me once more.

"These are all the pictures I've ever drawn," I replied turning around to put another one onto the snow-white wall. "I drew several pictures like these right here," I said pointing to a collection of similar looking drawings to my left. "I drew one of all thirteen members of the Organization. I also drew one with them and Naminé in it. Then I drew one with just the thirteen of you and me. And then I drew one of all fifteen of us together in a picture. I also drew a bunch of small group pictures," I said pointing to another collection of drawings on another wall.

Axel walked over to them and examined each picture.

"I like to draw pictures of duos or trios and sometimes four people too," I said pointing out a particular one. I was pointing at a picture of Axel, Roxas, Naminé, and myself as if we were posing for a photograph. That's how most of my drawings looked. "There's one of Roxas and Sora, one of Naminé and Kairi, one of Naminé and me, and one of Kairi and me. There's also one of Roxas and you, one of Roxas and Naminé, one of Sora and Kairi, and one of you and me. I also have one of Kairi, Naminé, and me. And many others, as you can see." I said all of these while pointing out the said drawing and pointing at some I had of Riku and Sora, one of Riku, Sora, and Kairi. And I also pointed out some of just our four best friends in different poses and such. "And don't even get me started on all the single person drawings I have each Organization member plus Naminé and myself. I think you saw those once," I added.

"That's a lot of pictures," Axel said walking around and examining each and every one. It wasn't just people that I drew. I drew scenery too but those were randomly put up. Naminé was a better person and drawing actual things that have happened—scenes and all that stuff. She had to do it to alter memories, and she had to be precise on those to make the memories the way she wanted. "They're really good. You're a real artist," he said walking back over to me.

"I've tons more but I'm kinda done putting them up for right now," I said putting one more drawing onto the wall before putting the boxes filled with them under my bed. I circled around to admire the hundreds of drawings adorning the walls.

"Don't you have a camera? I thought you saved up money a few years ago to buy one," he said.

"I do have one. It's under there somewhere," I said pointing to my bed. "But I like having drawings to remember things more than photographs."

"Why?" he asked.

"I've always thought that a drawing holds more memories than pictures do. When something was happening, I wouldn't take a picture of it because I would think that if I lost it or it got ruined I would never have anything to remember that moment by. But, see, if I decided not to take a picture, I would have to remember the moment personally so that I could draw it later on. And if that drawing I did got ruined or lost I could always redo it because I had remembered before hand. You see what I'm saying?" I said.

"I understand," he said slowly. He was looking in a box that he had pulled out from under my bed. "Here it is," he said holding up a simple Polaroid type camera. He handed me a envelope labeled, 'R & N's 14th.' He walked around the room a few more times after placing the camera back in the box.

I looked inside the envelope to see a stack of photographs. I remembered using the thing once, putting the pictures in here without looking at them, then totally forgetting about their existence.

The first few were blurry pictures of nothing in particular—a wall, a plant, stuff like that. They were test shots. The next one was of Naminé and I. "Oh I remember this now!" I said. "This was Naminé's and my fourteenth birthday party you guys held for us."

Naminé and I were dressed in two similar plain dresses that were spaghetti strapped and came down to our knees. Hers was light yellow and mine was a light teal color. Everyone insisted on us dressing different for the occasion. I flipped through the stack.

Axel and Roxas were standing behind Naminé and I with their arms around us like an awkward hug. Then there was Marluxia and Zexion holding me bridle style. I remembered that I was posing for a picture when they ran up behind me and picked me up. There were several of just Roxas, Axel, Naminé and I goofing off. I laughed when I saw the one Demyx and me making funny puckered-up lip faces at the camera with our arms around each other's shoulders. There were several pictures of Naminé with the others also. She was shy and was most of the time trying to hide her face when whoever had the camera tried to get her in one. There were some of the other members as well. I had taken the camera that night and had snapped a few shots of them. Xigbar and Xaldin were losing terribly to a game of poker against Luxord. Their facial expressions were hilarious. Vexen had been arguing with Lexaeus all night long and they had poured punch on each other and splattered cake in each other's faces as well. I had managed to get a great picture of that one too.

The last picture was of Demyx, Roxas, Axel, Marluxia, Larxene, Zexion, Naminé and I all on a couch together. Demi and Zexy were on one arm of the couch while Mar and Larxene were on the other. Naminé and I were sandwiched between Axel and Roxas and were smiling the biggest smiles we could conjure. There were actually a few copies of that picture—each one a little different than the other. Larxene sneezed in one. Demyx had blinked in that one as well. There was the perfect one and then one just like it too. It was strange. I sat there for a minute or two trying to find the difference when I finally found it. Axel, in one of them, wasn't looking at the camera when it was taken. Instead he was positioning his bright green orbs right in my direction.

I guess pictures were a pretty good way to keep memories now that I thought about it. I just couldn't help the feeling that if something happened to them, the memory would somehow be ruined in a way.

I placed the pictures back in the envelope and back into the box. "So what brought all this all of a sudden?" Axel asked.

"I've just been thinking about what's gonna happen soon. Everything's gonna change now, isn't it?" He nodded sadly. "I've been wondering what it's gonna be like once I'm gone. And whether I should—well find a way to tell Kairi everything."

"Huh?"

"Part of me thinks that I should tell Kairi everything—who I am, who she is, her past, everything. But the other half of me says that it's a bad idea. It tells me that if I do that, it's just not right. I'd be dumping too much on her and that's just not fair. Right?"

"I guess sorta, but why wouldn't it be fair?"

"Everything would be different for her. She would be a different person. It'd be like going up to her and saying, 'I'm your sister. You forgot everything nine years ago. You were a princess. And since I'm gonna disappear soon, you have to rule our country. By the way you never get to know me or really yourself for that matter because I'm due to die any second now.' That's what that'd be like for her. I just can't do that to her."

"I've been thinking a lot too, you know?" he said.

"About what?" I asked glancing at him.

"About you…" he whispered.

"Me?" I asked slightly surprised.

"About what you've been thinking too, ya know?" he said.

"Oh…" I said quietly looking away from his eyes.

"I found out something that might spark your interest though," he said.

"Really?" I said looking back at his shiny green eyes.

He walked over to me and put his hand out. I grabbed it willingly and followed him into a portal. The two of us arrived in the library. "I did some research," he said.

"Research?" I asked not letting go of his hand.

"Uh huh. I looked around in here for hours and guess what I found out?" he asked smiling cheerfully.

"What did you find out?" I asked laughing quietly at his goofy smile.

"Xemnas put a lot of his information in here, you know? All the reports—his, his past's life's, his Heartless', and his past life's teacher—they're all in here," he said.

"Really?" I asked surprised.

"Well, copies of them at least. And here…" he left my hand and stepped up onto a chair in one of the aisles in the library. He reached for a folder and brought it down to his height. He opened the manila folder and flipped through the contents before pulling a piece of paper out. "Xemnas wrote here that the prophecy about you disappearing is only a half-step prophecy. In other words it can be changed."

He smiled the same goofy grin and I could help but please him and smile back. "What does it say?" I asked.

"Xemnas wrote down a lot about this compared to some of the other prophecies," he said. He handed me the piece of paper. It read 'Prophecy No. 289: Disappearing of No. XIV' across the top. Below that were several neatly written paragraphs. But the whole paper wasn't orderly. Dozens of messy notes were scribbled along the edges.

He took it out of my hand a few minutes later after giving me time to look over, however, I never did really look at what the thing actually said.

"I remember him telling me the day you got here that you would disappear," he said quietly placing the paper in the folder and then on the shelf.

"What?" I asked slightly shocked.

"When he told me, I didn't think at first. When he said it, it kinda flew right by me. In one ear and out the other," he said.

"Why are you saying this?" I asked looking at him in the shadows of the dim room.

"Do you think none of this would've happened if I had listened to him all those years ago?"

"Prevent what from happening?" I asked confused.

"You fading away," he said simply.

"I'm not fading away—not just yet. And why do you always have to turn our conversations into ones about sadness and talks of friendships being split apart?" I said.

"I don't mean too. In fact, I'm trying to lighten the conversation now," he said.

"Then get on with the lightening," I said sharply.

"Xemnas wrote down the ways to prevent you from fading away, isn't that great? Now I know how to save you!" he said gleefully. I didn't say anything at first. I just stared at him, emotionless. He smiled bigger, wanting me to say something. "Well, speak," he said after his happy expression fell.

"Axel…why do keep trying to do this. Everyday, you are trying to pull in some way to save me. I've already told you how I felt about it," I said bitterly.

"I know. But now that we know that you can, in fact, be saved, why blow off the chance? What if the prophecies about the other Nobodies are just half-step ones too? That way there is the possibility for us to be together in the end. Why won't you just give it a chance, Xarene? You may believe that Fate and Destiny are what controls everything, but I believe that people, Nobodies too, can choose their path themselves. Why don't you just try it?" he said praying for me to say yes.

I waited for several minutes thinking about whether I should say yes or no. Axel kept the same hopeful grin plastered across his face. "Aww, fine!" I said defeated. "What does it say we can do to save me?"

"Yay!!" He screamed. He jumped up and down for several minutes with happiness.

"Axel!" I yelled. Still jumping. _"Axxxellll!"_ Still jumping. "AXEL!!!" He stopped.

"Right. Sorry," he said blushing. "There are two ways, according to Xemnas to give someone with a fading heart their Light back. One is to get the other to willingly give back what they took. We would have to go to Kairi and tell her, of course, who you are and all."

When he said that I was immediately regretting telling him 'fine'.

"We would let her know everything. And if it works, you and your sister could be together too. But we could let her see the Darkness in her heart. Once she sees it, you will start to become whole again! And she'll be fine too!"

"Well…I guess. What's the other way?" I asked.

"You don't really wanna hear that one," he said darkly.

"Why wouldn't I wanna hear it?" I asked curious as to his tone of voice.

"Why can't we just use that way? Explaining to her who you are and all? That would be great—you could meet her and become whole!"

"I don't want to put all of that on her. She won't wanna rule our country. She will wanna stay on Destiny Islands. She doesn't wanna be Queen. I can't be Queen either. No one remembers a Princess Raene. Imagine Kairi going to our people and saying that she is giving the throne to her sister. No one knows who I am. I can't just rule a country that doesn't believe that I am their rightful leader. What's the other way?" I said.

He sighed. "Fine." He took a deep breath. "The other way is to force the light outta her. But you won't like what that means."

"Tell me!"

"We would have to take the Light from her. It would be taking it ALL away. Kairi would cease to exist."

"So what do you wanna do about this?" I said.

"I thought you would like the first choice," he said.

"Well, I don't!"

"Then choice number two it is!" he said.

"No!"

"We could get everyone back!" he yelled back.

I paused. "What?" I said loudly.

"We could get you back, first of all. Kairi would disappear and then Naminé could be with us too. She's been wandering alone for a long time now. If we kidnap Kairi to get the Light, Sora will come after us and we can end his rein as the Keyblade master and we can get Roxas back too! Isn't that great? Two friends and your life are more important than the life of a sister that doesn't even know who you are!"

"Shut up! We're not going to do that to Kairi! She doesn't deserve to have everything she has taken away!"

"I'm gonna do whatever it takes to save you, Xarene! No one is gonna stop me, not even you!" he yelled.

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Hola!! Thanks for reading. This chapter is dedicated to you, my loving fans! Ahhhh! I got another fanart from Pumpkin8150, my loving fan. I will be posting it on my profile next to my previous fanart by Akito17. Thank you, you both! Ahhh! I fear I will not get chapter 23 done till January. Sorry, but I have to shop for Christmas presents. Megan's gift still has to be made. Darn you and your scarves. Ok, well. Thank you again everybody for keeping me going. I'll update as soon as possible.

Love,  
Sarah


	23. The Kidnapping

**Oh my God!!**

**I'm so sorry everybody! The holidays were busy and school just started again. I was so busy but I'm back and I'm here to put up the awaited chapter. I wanna say that I'm gonna be redoing the first couple of chapters. Don't worry I'm not changing the plot. It's just when I started this story I had no idea what POV to put it in and I was just starting as a writer and I noticed so many mistakes then that I wanna fix. So I'll be telling you all in my next chapter's memo and so on if I finished fixing one in case you all wanted to read the non messed up version. **

**Here you all go!**

**(I don't own anything but Raene.)**

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"You wanna bet!" I yelled after giving ample time for Axel's threat to soak in.

"It's the only way since you refuse to let Kairi know the truth!" he yelled back.

The room fell silent. Neither Axel nor I said anything. Only our loud breaths could be heard. We both had our eyes narrowed into slits, glaring at each other.

All of the sudden a door opened. We both turned to see one of our least favorite members standing in the doorway flustered.

"What do you want, Saïx?" I said harshly.

"Xemnas requires your presents in his private quarters, Xarene," he replied just as harshly.

"Me? In there?" I asked surprised.

He simply nodded and ushered me to follow him out the door.

_There's no way I'm leaving this spot. I'm not letting Axel out of my sight. He'll leave and hurt Kairi if I go anywhere that I can't see him, _I thought to myself.

"Well?" Saïx called over after I stood there, staring dumbfounded at him for a few minutes.

I shot my big blue eyes back at Axel to see him still glaring at me but this time the corner of his lip was curled in a evil smirk. "Well go on, Xarene. You don't want to keep our Lord waiting," Axel said clearly, still smirking at me.

I whispered so only he could hear me, "I'm not leaving! You're not going anywhere and neither am I."

Suddenly an arm snaked around my waist and I was lifted into the air. Saïx threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Put me down, Saïx!" I yelled pounding my fists against his back. My hair fell over my face as the blue-haired Nobody carried me out of the room. I looked up and brushed my fiery locks away from my eyes and stared angrily at Axel as he smiled maniacally at me before disappearing into a portal. "No!" I yelled as I continued to hit Saïx's back but he just brought me through a portal and into a room where Xemnas stood waiting.

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I stood there in the light crashes of the waves like I did everyday. I had been coming here and staring out at our island hoping to see his bouncing brown spikes in the distance. _Was he ever coming home? What about Riku? What if I never got to see them again? How could I survive?_

I remember that these islands were always happy but now they seemed downright depressing. The sky was always cloudless and blue—blue like his eyes…the ocean was always the same blue green as Riku's. The sun was always out and shining brightly and the sand would bake ones bare feet.

But now everything was different. The sky was filled with large puffy clouds. The seemingly always-setting sun turned the sky shades of shelly pink and lavender purple. The ocean was never sapphire anymore but like a sea of blood. It was dark and saddening. The beaches never had the warm yellow color but now a soft peach to light brown. The life had left the islands.

I stood quietly thinking. The small waves soaked my shoes and surrounded them by tiny broken shells. The soft breeze that no longer smelled like the sweet sea blew through my cranberry colored hair as the depressing feeling continued to weigh down on me. "Maybe waiting isn't good enough," I spoke softly to myself.

"That's just what I was thinking myself! If you have a dream, don't wait. Act," came a handsome voice from my side. I turned to see a large black cloud of mist erupt from the ground and a tall man stepped out. He was thin and had spiky red hair and sharp, captivating green eyes. "It's one of life's simple rules. Got it memorized?"

I paused staring at him curiously. He looked so familiar. "Who are you?" I managed to say.

"Axel." He replied calmly. _Axel. Nice name, _I thought. "I happen to be acquainted with Sora." He spoke again in a very handsome voice. He held his hand out. "I can take you to see him."

"S—Sora? You—you can take me to see him?" I stuttered. He nodded. I gazed at him. _Where did I know him from? He seemed so familiar… _ I considered a lot about taking his hand. _I would do anything to see him again._

"No!" I heard a voice yell. It seamed so near but so far away. I kept a straight face. "No!" It yelled again. It was a female voice. About my age I guessed. _So familiar…_ "You have to let me go! If you don't he's gonna get there and he'll hurt her! He's gonna hurt Kairi!"

That was enough for me. There was no way I was gonna go with this guy—no matter how familiar he seemed and even if he said he could bring me to Sora. All of a sudden I heard barking and a large yellow dog with a stringy black tail, thin floppy ears, and a bright green collar bounded over to me. He spun around happily.

Then suddenly a bunch of swaying white creatures appeared around us. They were with Axel. I heard someone whistle and another black cloud erupted outta the ground. The dog leaped in. "You and I have something in common, Kairi," Axel said from behind me. "We both miss someone dearly that we care about. Heh, I feel like we could be friends already."

I started running after the still open portal. I spun around and said, "Well, you're not acting very friendly!" And then I jumped into the black mist.

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"What are you talking about?" Superior asked as I continued to struggle out of Saïx's grip.

"Axel is gonna kidnap Kairi! You have to let me go!"

"Oh what does it matter if he kidnaps her? How would that profit him?" he said laughing.

"He's gonna lure Sora into a trap and destroy him to revive Roxas!" I said desperately.

Superior ceased his laughing. "Saïx," he said.

"Sir?" Saïx said straightening up.

"Sora is on his way to Twilight Town," Xemnas said. Saïx nodded. "I want you to take Xarene with you. Kairi is there unless Axel has gotten to her."

"Why would Axel be in Twilight Town?" I asked.

"Trust me," Superior said.

Saïx nodded. "Yes Superior," he said grabbing my arm and pulling me to a newly opened portal.

"I'll just Luxord to go on the mission," Xemnas said as the room disappeared and the orange scenery of Twilight Town came into view.

Saïx let go of my arm and summoned several Dusks around the square as three teenagers came around the corner. The three immediately started to fight them.

"Why are the Dusks fighting them?" I asked him angrily. He was wasting my time—I could be using these valuable minutes to find Axel.

"Sora will come. Be patient," he answered.

He tapped me on the shoulder after a few minutes. The three had failed to notice the two of us standing off to the side. I turned from the fight. Saïx was standing in the shadows ushering me over. I reluctantly followed. If I had tried to run away to find Axel I would have to pay worst consequences then I could imagine.

I walked over to Saïx and stood beside him just as Sora and his gang ran into the square to help the others. Sora obviously was having more luck in the battle and easily took the Dusks out.

"Impressive," Saïx spoke. I turned to find him no longer standing beside me. I looked over to Sora to see him spinning around looking for the owner of the voice. Suddenly Saïx appeared between Sora and I with his hood down,

I walked over to Saïx and stood by his side. "Raene?" Sora said. I smirked slightly. "Man, do you have payback coming from what you did to us back there in the Underworld.

"Do I, now?" I said.

"Xarene, enough. Sora, have you seen a man named Axel?" Saïx asked. "He should be here somewhere."

"What does it matter to me if he's here or not. Why should I care?" Sora said getting into a fighting stance.

"He's no longer doing what we ask of him."

"He a member of the Organization too?" Goofy asked from beside Sora.

"Yes," I said.

"You guys in some fight or something?" Donald asked.

"Don't seem to be a very organized Organization, do you?" Sora said.

"Don't let your guard down. Axel will stop at nothing to turn you into a Heartless," Saïx said.

"No he won't!" I said defiantly to Saïx.

"Silence No. XIV!" Saïx whispered harshly. Saïx pulled his attention back to Sora. "Anyhow, just to let you know—it would break our hearts to know that something happened to you."

"Hmph! You don't have hearts!" Sora said.

"True. But we do remember, don't we Xarene?" Saïx said looking at me from under his hood. I looked back at him deeply with no expression. I could see him smile right before he turned back to Sora and removed his hood allowing his long blue hair fall over his shoulders. "See, Sora—that's what makes us special."

"What do you mean, exactly?" Sora asked as Saïx summoned a portal behind me.

"We know the ways of how to injure a heart. We know what weekends it and what breaks it."

"Let's jump in after him," I heard Sora whisper to Donald.

"Why?" the duck questioned.

"Maybe he'll take us to their world," Sora replied.

"Don't be so reckless," Saïx warned. "You don't want to end up like Riku, do you?"

"What!?" Sora said.

Saïx grabbed my arm and attempted to pull me into the portal. "No! Sora, you have to hurry! Axel…he'll—" but I was cut off by Saïx's hand being placed over my mouth. I pulled it away quickly and said, "You have to save her, Sora…for all of us. Don't let Axel get to her! Axel is dangerous and he won't stop until he has completed his goal!"

Saïx pulled me against him and slammed a hand over my mouth once more. He bent down and whispered harshly in my ear, "Why are you trying to help him, Xarene? Remember what he did to our family! He and his friends have killed more than half of us! Remember what he recently did to Xaldin!"

My eyes widened and my breath stopped. I was sure that my heart had stopped if I had one. _He killed them. He killed them all. _I thought over and over again. _He ruined everything. He and his bratty friends took everything away from me. Xaldin, Vexen (even though Sora didn't kill him, I could blame his death on the fact that he existed), Lexaeus, Zexion, Marluxia, Larxene, and then Roxas and Naminé were gone because of his being the Keyblade wielder. He must be stopped. _

I looked up and glared at the brunette. His face disappeared and was replaced by Roxas'. That's when I knew that I had to make up my mind. Was I going to help him and stop Axel from fulfilling his task of saving me—or would I finally let all the anger that's been building up inside of me for the past year go and destroy the boy that took my family away?

Saïx removed his hand from my mouth. I opened my eyes from glaring and stared at him asking 'why?' over and over again in my head. My lower lip started to quiver slightly. As Saïx pulled me with him into the portal I lowered my eyes to the ground and whispered, "You've got payback coming too, Sora."

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Hey everybody! Once again, sorry for the wait. I'll update soon. Next, we're off to Hollow Bastion! Yay!!!

**Now, I don't** **mean to sound like selfish or whatever, but I just noticed that I haven't been getting as many reviews as I usually get. I guess it's mostly me to blame with the slow updates. And for crystalfeathers, Akito17, and pumpkin8150 I love you all! You guys have like been with me from the beginning. Thank you! If you have any friends though that you think might like this story, would you recommend it. I'm night trying to be selfish I just need motivation that more than just a few people are reading it. Thanks for reading!**

**Love, Sarah**


	24. Ansem the Wise

Sorry everybody! My PS2 was being retarded and I couldn't play it to go along with what happened. And I couldn't get any good cut scenes to tell me what happened either. I'm sorry if I told you all that we would be going to Hollow Bastion in this one. I promise in the next next one. Like chappie 25. Ok? Sorry. I also fixed chappies 2 and 3 of all POV and spelling and grammar issues. If you were annoyed with it, please reread them. Thanks. Love you all! There is also something I added in like chappie 2 where I said that Raene hadn't seen Leon and the others in a year. I found that in the time of Kingdom Hears ONE they said that they were separated from their home nine years ago, meaning 10 years for the time space of this story. That I found out in the KH manga. There is so much in there that is different. I kinda mentioned that in this chappie. So yeah…sorry. Enjoy!

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Saïx and I appeared in the Meeting Chamber. "Take a seat," Saïx ordered quietly jumping into his own seat. I obeyed and got in Zexion's old one. "You see what I mean, then, by Sora's intentions?" he said.

"I do, but you don't seam to realize the danger my sister is in," I said not looking over into his yellow eyes.

"Axel will be punished for his actions and your sister will be safe," he simply said. "I suppose the maximum punishment will do."

"No. I don't want Axel to die. I just don't want anything to happen to Kairi. Isn't there something else we can do instead of _killing _him?" I said shooting my eyes to his seat.

"Axel already knew of what would happen if he made another mistake. He chose to do this and must endure the consequences." I just glared at him. "You remember what he did to put himself in this third strike position?" I didn't answer; I just looked at the base of one of the other chairs. "He killed one our own, Xarene. He was lucky to not have been dealt when he returned."

"He did it to save all of you! He did it to save us from Marluxia and Larxene! You would rather have had Axel not have been a double agent and not stopped their plans from going through? If he hadn't killed Vexen to gain their trust, you probably wouldn't be here right now, Saïx! Is that what you would prefer? I would be happy to arrange your ticket outta here!" I said angrily at my superior.

"Enough, Number XIV!" he said harshly. "You can, as of now, take Axel's place among the Organization. He is no longer a member in our eyes. In fact, you could have taken his place many weeks ago. You can be Number VIII so that we continue to be known as Organization XIII instead of the strange-sounding Organization _XIV_."

"I'd rather not. I'd prefer to not even have a title among you kidnappers," I said in a snake-like tone.

"You can't still be angry after all these years?" he said.

"Forget about it. What do you want me to do now, Number VII?"

"Sora is on his way to Hollow Bastion. He has some things to learn in the near future. Instead of us sending you over there to spy or learn it yourself—I will just have to tell you, myself," he said.

"Very well. What is it you have to teach me?" I said pulling my legs under me and sitting cross-legged.

"Right. Do you know who Ansem the Wise is?"

"Who?"

"Does it sound familiar at all?"

"Somewhat. Do I know someone by that name?"

"You did. He was your King."

"My Godfather? My King?"

"That was the one thing you could never remember, right?"

I nodded. "What about him?"

"You know that the founding members worked for him, right?"

"Yes. Xigbar told me."

"Well, Ansem, their teacher, studied hearts, the two realms and the way worlds work. Several years before you were born or even your parents met, Ansem found a boy dying on the streets. He took him in and raised him back to health. The boy started to work with him and became like a child to the man. The boy's name was Xehanort. As the years went by, Ansem acquired five other assistants who later became the original six members."

I nodded. 'Why was he telling me this?' I thought.

"Ansem the Wise and his six assistants began to study the Heartless and how they were created and such. Ienzo, Zexion's other, was the one who convinced Ansem to continue with dueling deeper into their studies. Eventually, their teacher became worried about their experiments and ordered them to stop. When Xehanort asked if he could continue even carefully, Ansem refused. This angered the young man and he disobeyed him. Without their master's permission, the assistants began dangerous experiments on the Heartless and human beings to see how the creatures reacted to a live heart. Ansem found out and became infuriated. The six, staying with the knowledge that it was their master who started the experiments, created machine generated Heartless and placed the emblem you are familiar with on them. As their research continued, the six finally gave into the darkness and created our founding members. Heartless were also created. Xehanort's Heartless took the name of his former master and joined with Maleficent to take over the worlds, as you know."

"Xemnas' name is an anagram of Ansem with an X. Did Xehanort's Nobody also take his former teacher's name?" I asked suddenly.

"Precisely. Both said that Ansem the Wise was the one who made them who they were. That is why they took his name as his own. Xehanort volunteered to be tested in his early years for the group's research. The experiments drove him to wanting to know more and more. It drove him mad."

"I see. Continue," I said nodding.

"Sora is about to find out that the Ansem they killed was only a Heartless and that his Nobody is the leader of the Organization. There is a computer in the basement of the castle along with reports by both Ansem the Wise and Xehanort under the name Ansem."

"What happened to Ansem the Wise after his students turned to Darkness?" I asked.

"Well, you and your sister were born. He slowly built on revenge working with your friends…Leon and all of them. Of course they had no idea of his story about his students. That is why Leon and the others spent hours collecting and studying the reports to figure it all out. When your father was killed the night that the Heartless attacked, Leon and the gang disappeared, right?"

I nodded. "The King told us they were going to help other people in other worlds who needed their help more than us."

"Then your world was attacked again a year later?"

I nodded again.

"You and your sister were sent to Destiny Islands and your King woke up in a world in between the two realms. He there took on a new name and quest, still having to do with revenge, though."

"What did he plan to do?"

"You'll find out soon enough. As will Sora and the others. As I was saying, Sora will eventually find out the password and have access to the DTD, the Door To Darkness, a computer system that Ansem the Wise put on there with all of his valuable information. A few years ago, we sent Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion to corrupt the data and only leave one clue on the computer—a picture of the King of Radiant Garden. By finding this picture, Sora will learn the truth about Ansem."

"Is that all?"

"I'm pretty sure. We give it a few hours and then we leave," he said jumping down. 

"For what?" I said jumping down as well. "What are we leaving for?"

Saïx opened a portal and I followed him into the shadows. He continued to lead me around the castle as he knocked on every member's door and ushered them to follow. When Luxord, Xemnas, Xigbar, and Demyx were all with us, we returned to the Meeting Chamber and we all took our seats.

That is except for Saïx who was stopped by one of his personal Berserk Nobodies. After a few moments of Saïx trying to understand what the creature was saying, Saïx left the room saying he would be back in a minute. "It appears we have a traitor in the castle and he has a little friend with him."

I tried to spring outta my chair but Luxord and Xigbar were already there to stop me. Saïx teleported away. Xigbar and Luxord were both sitting in my seat. Luxord had his razor-sharp cards aimed at me and Xigbar had my back pressed against his chest, holding me still. I tried to wiggle away but Xigbar only tightened his grip on my arm and waist.

Saïx appeared back several minutes later. "The pyro escaped but the girl managed to get away from him. She is safely in the dungeon now. We'll deal with Axel later, now it is time to strategize."

I loosened up. As long as Axel wasn't in trouble, I could care less. Of course the fact that Kairi was a prisoner bothered me, but she too was safe for the time being. Luxord went back to his seat but Xigbar stayed holding me next to him.

As Saïx and Luxord took their seats, Xemnas spoke up. "A war is upon us. Maleficent has invaded Hollow Bastion and is laying siege to everyone with her Heartless."

'Why was this a problem for us?' I asked myself.

As if my magic, Xemnas said, "With the amount Heartless she has, there is a chance that the all-powerful Keybearer will not make it out alive. And our Kingdom Hearts is not yet complete. We need to give Sora and his friends some slack by striking back at the dark-beings. It will be a three-way fight—light versus darkness, light versus nothingness, and darkness versus nothingness. We need to keep the Keybearer alive until our goal is finished, then we can send him to his doom."

Everyone around the room nodded. It sounded as though they already knew of this plan, but I didn't pay much attention to it. "Saïx, Demyx, and Xarene will accompany me to Hollow Bastion. Luxord and Xigbar, you two will be trusted to guard the castle. Keep the enemy and Axel out and make sure no one gets to the Princess. I will have a task for you both when we return. So don't think that you have nothing to do that is helpful. Demyx, I want you to prove your strength by testing Sora first. Xarene, you are to go with him. Saïx, you will follow me." Xemnas finished and motioned everyone to stand. Xigbar yanked me to my feet but kept his hand wrapped tightly around my upper arm, digging his fingers into my flesh. Xemnas said something and we all filed out of the room by portals. Xigbar tossed me into Demyx's arms and we left for a fight that would be the turn of a war for two of the three sides, while one rose above all. We just didn't know what side that was yet.

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**Hey guys! Hope you liked this one. Now, we're off to Hollow Bastion! One of the biggest spoiler issues in the story will be coming up next. I don't know why I say that since you already know that this story has way too many spoilers. Chappies 2 and 3 are fixed. There was nothing wrong with chappie 1 I thought that I wanted to change. So feel free to read those. Love you all. Thanks again. **


	25. War of Realms Part 1

Ok, here it is. We're finally going to Hollow Bastion! And yes, my dear readers, it is time for the death of one of our beloved musicians. I try not to make it tear-jerking but sad nonetheless. Enjoy. 

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"So…we're here…now what?" I said as we arrived in my old town.

"We test Sora," Demyx replied. "Jeez, Xarene, don't you pay attention in meetings anymore?"

"Very funny. But I mean what _exactly_ do you plan to do?" I asked.

Demyx walked a few feet away from me and looked out at the barren wasteland that made up the world. We were about halfway between my old castle and Maleficent's new home. Below us in the valleys were thousands upon thousands of Heartless swarming around. "Look at them," he said quietly.

"You think we can win?" I said standing next to him and glancing up at his face. His mouth was a line and his green eyes were narrowed into half slits.

"The Nobodies are more powerful," he said simply. His expression didn't change.

"What makes you think that?" I asked.

"Light and Darkness—they're pretty much even, right?" he said turning to me. I nodded. "Well, just think, us Nobodies are both Dark and Light, therefore, we have the advantage of both, right?" I nodded again. "Then we'll be fine," he concluded looking away.

"There's just so many of them," I said looking at the Heartless as they started to fight the Dusks that were appearing. Leon, Cloud, Aerith, Yuffie, and the others were out there somewhere too.

He looked down at me once more. He smiled. "Not to worry, Sora won't hurt us. If it seams that he's gonna hurt us, we'll leave," he said.

"Why do we fight him? If we kill him, our goal is kinda put on hold until the new Keybearer is born, right? I mean, it's not like I can complete Kingdom Hearts with my Keyblades, can I?" I said looking up at him.

"No you can't," he said. "You, Roxas, Sora's King, and his friend—none of you can control the awesome power that he does. Sure, all of you guys release a captive heart when you kill a Heartless, but if we were to just trust you with the task, it would take like ten times longer to complete Kingdom Hearts. You weren't the chosen wielder and that's the only reason why."

"Oh…so you guys are just fighting him to get him prepared to fight more and more Heartless?" I asked.

He nodded. We both turned to look out at the fight below us. "And so begins the War of the Realms…" he said quietly. "It's a sad thing what this all has come to."

I agreed and we both stood there for a few minutes just watching.

"On a happy note…" I began to say. Demyx looked down at me curiously. "…I can feel again," I said.

"Excuse me?" he asked tilting his head to the side.

"Nobodies are able to feel just to an extent, right?" I said looking out as the battle went on.

"Yeah…"

"Well, I could always too. Then when I became a real Nobody a while ago, I began to lose all emotions. I seriously couldn't feel anything. When Axel said a funny joke, I couldn't laugh—if I thought about sad times, I didn't cry. I also couldn't actually feel anything when I touched it. Axel tried for a while to see if I could sense if I touched something when I had my eyes were closed—there was nothing I could though. It should've gotten worse as time went on, and well, it kinda did. But just suddenly while we were standing here, I could feel—emotions and all. Isn't that great?" I said. I kept my eyes on the horizon as I spoke.

"It _is_ great, Xarene. But _you _don't seam very happy about it," he said next to me.

"I don't know why it happened. It's worrying me—that's all," I said.

It was quiet for a while. The only sound was that of metal clashing down in the valleys.

"You ready to go and see Sora?" he said. I nodded. A portal surrounded us. As it began to disappear and we found ourselves at the base of my old castle at the town's edge, Demyx said, "Just let me do the talking, ok?"

Sora and his two buddies had run up just as we exited the darkness. Demyx stepped out of the portal nearly tripping on his own feet. "Hey there, guys!" Demyx called over.

"Get outta the way!" the duck yelled back.

"How'd two wimps like you and Mullet-boy get into a group like the Organization?" Sora said.

Wimps. I had nearly killed him. I had _let _him get away. Demyx jumped in mock-emotional pain. "You know what, man? That hurt me right here," he said patting the place where his heart would be. He then laughed and turned to me, holding himself up from his giggles by placing and hand on my shoulder. He whipped away invisible tears with the other as I giggled too.

"You guys have gotta be the worst fighters we've ever faced!" Sora said placing his hands on his hips.

"It's not nice to judge people by their appearance," Demyx said waving his fingers at Sora.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy all summoned their weapons and got into a fighting stance. Demyx turned around and face me. "This isn't right," he said. He was slightly bent over.

"What's not right?" I asked getting in front of him.

"That's Roxas in there. Listen to what he's saying!"

"Roxas isn't saying that stuff—it's all Sora," I argued.

"What's the difference? They're the same person!" he hissed.

"Demyx, Roxas wouldn't say stuff like that," I said calmly.

"It's Roxas I know it is…" he hissed more softly than before.

Behind him Sora said something that I didn't catch.

"We do too have hearts, Sora," Demyx said standing up and turning slightly. "Don't get upset about it though."

"Yeah right, Nobody!" Sora said crossing his arms.

Demyx turned back to me. His eyelids lowered over his eyes. He clenched his fists and he began to tremble slightly in frustration. "Demyx, calm down," I said soothingly.

"Roxas will pay for causing all of this to happen," he said through gritted teeth.

"Demyx?" I said looking at his face more clearly.

"When he left, everything changed. I want it to go back," he spat.

"Demyx? Buddy?" I said getting frightened by his behavior. He trembled a little more. The anger was building up inside of him. "Demyx?" I called. It was as if he couldn't hear me.

"Well?" Sora called from behind Demyx.

Demyx spun around and pointed his finger threateningly at Sora. "Silence, traitor!" he spoke with pursed lips and slits for eyes.

I grabbed Demyx's arm as he summoned his sitar. "Get outta here!" he yelled at me, not taking his eyes of the brunette. I didn't let go though. Demyx threw me to the side and then shot a jet stream of water at me. I was knocked past Sora and to the other side of the opening we were in. I stood up just as Demyx held his hand out, palm facing me. He moved his fingers and a huge circular wall; at least thirty feet tall surrounded me.

"Demyx! I yelled at him. He ignored me and started to fight Sora and the others. 'This always happens to me,' I thought to myself. 'First it was Axel with the fire and now it's Demyx with the water. Sheesh!'

After several minutes of calling his name out with no answer I attempted to watch the fight. _Attempted._ I leaned in closely trying to see through the upwards-rushing water. Unfortunately, I got to close to the water and my nose came in contact with the fast-moving current.

"Oww!" I yelped jumping away from the wall.

"Nice try, Xarene," I heard Demyx call from somewhere in front of me as I rubbed the sore spot on the tip of my nose with the palm of my hand. I then summoned one of my keyblades and stuck it in the wall of water trying to create an opening to escape through. The keyblade was ripped from my arm and tossed over the wall, landing a few feet away on the ground. I grabbed my now sore arm and then summoned it back to me.

I looked out once more through the water, being careful not to hurt myself this time. I was able to see more clearly this time as I concentrated deeply. Two blurs that were Sora and Demyx continued to fight for about ten more minutes—it seamed like forever though. Suddenly, the shorter of the two blurs hit the taller one then stopped. The taller one stumbled back and froze. _Demyx!_

I waited anxiously for the water wall to disappear from around me. When it fell, I ran through the crashing droplets and dashed over to him. I pushed through Sora and Goofy who were watching the musician. "Outta my way!" I came to Demyx just as he collapsed. I caught him in my arms and then I carefully lowered him to the ground holding him slightly in my lap.

"This can't be happening…" he whispered.

"Shh…" I cooed. "It's gonna be OK," I replied back smiling. It would be. This couldn't be happening.

"It can't be happening…" he said even softer.

"Don't say anything. Ok? We're gonna get you back home and then," I sniffed, "we'll get you some medicine and then you'll be fine. You're gonna be fine," I said softly burying my face into his chest and sobbing quietly. Suddenly I felt small soft things tapping my face. I looked up and saw that slowly, Demyx was fading away. "This can't be happening…"

"Raene…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry," he said trying to sit up some but failing and falling back into my arms.

"Sorry? Sorry for what?" I asked.

"Sorry that I couldn't have been a better friend to you. I—I always wanted to be friends with you and everyone but all I did was try to impress the superiors. I'm just sorry that I couldn't have been there for you when you needed someone and no one was there."

"What are you talking about?" I said. "You were more then a good friend to me, Demyx! You were one of the best friends I could ever ask for."

He smiled and I smiled back. "I don't wanna go, Rae," he said frowning suddenly.

I squeezed my eyes shut trying to keep in the tears. "I don't want you to go, either Demi," I said opening my eyes.

"Promise me something?" he said.

"Anything."

"Promise me that I'll always be in your heart," he said.

I grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly. "Always," I whispered. "As long as I'm in yours."

He smiled and pulled my hand to his chest and flattened my palm on the spot where his heart would be. "Forever and ever, I promise," he said. I smiled "And we'll always be together, right?" he asked. I nodded.

"We'll be together again soon, don't worry."

It was quiet for a minute. "It's time to go, Beautiful," he said. I shook my head. "What?"

"I don't want it to be time. I don't want you to stop calling me that. Why can't this moment last forever?" I whined.

He chuckled. "I don't want to leave either, but it's my time. I have to go home now," he said.

"Home is with us, with your family," I said.

"You forget. Half of our family is out there somewhere. It's time for me to join them, just like all of us will one day," he said smiling. It was quiet again. "What's wrong?" he asked after I made a strange face.

"I wish there was some way to say goodbye what wouldn't make me start crying again," I said softly.

He thought for a second then smiled. "I thought of some thing, Beautiful. Just something that will keep me happy until you join us in the next life."

"What's that?"

"A kiss."

I stared at him for a moment. The flakes of black were beginning to fly away faster; I only had a few seconds left with him. "Okay," I said. I leaned down and placed my lips softly on his. They were warm and soft—just like in the dream I had about him. And just like in the dream, all I wanted was to be held in his arms forever—except I didn't have those feelings for him—I just didn't wanna lose him. I held my lips on his with my eyes closed until I couldn't feel them any longer. I opened my eyes to find him gone and my arms empty. He was gone.

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**There! I did it! He's dead! I'm sorry if any of you really hate this. But as I told Akito, we have to go by the book. Anyhow, I thought forever on what to say for the very last thing and all I could come up with was that he was gone. **

**To be honest…when I first thought of this chapter and started planning this event way back last year, I didn't expect it to end this way. To be honest, I was gonna have Demyx get kinda angry because he liked Raene and all she cared about was Axel and if he was okay or not. So he kinda just—died. Yeah, that's how I planned it. I'm glad I didn't though. That would have been a bad way to kill him off. I didn't want Raene to seem like she had all these guys and that stuff.**

**Sorry for the late update guys. I truly didn't mean it to take this long. I was outta town and then I was busy with school work and make up stuff. **

**By the way, chapters 1-6 have been fixed. Thank you for everyone's support so far. I'll soon have next chapter out.**

**Love, Sarah**


	26. War of Realms Part 2

Hey guys. I apologize for the long wait. I have been super busy with school and golf, yes I do golf. I've been forced by parents. But oh well. I'm here and I want to give you this now. Sorry again.

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I still had my arms wrapped up as if he was still there, but he wasn't. He was gone until we all met again. Again…I wondered how long it would take?

I must've been in shock because I kept the same position and expression for several minutes as Sora whispered behind me. "What was that all about?"

"Don't know, seamed kinda sad to me though," Goofy whispered back. He sniffled.

"Sad? How could she be sad? She's a Nobody. Nobodies don't have emotions. They can't feel," Sora countered.

"I thought it was sad though," Goofy said again.

"Shh, she's moving," Donald said suddenly.

I had started to turn around slowly on my knees. Once I was facing them I relaxed once more with my arms hanging to my side, my gloved fingers slowly gracing the ground. I hung my head. My wet hair fell in my face, hiding my teary eyes from them. "Sora?" I said softly.

It was quiet for a moment. "Don't answer her," Donald said.

"Yes?" Sora said, ignoring his friend.

"Come here, I have something to tell you," I spoke, my lips barely moving.

I heard him take a step but then Donald's loud voice broke the near silence of the area, "Sora, don't!"

He must've not listened to him because I soon heard his footsteps slowly coming towards me with small splashes of water. He stopped and I could tell he was only halfway between his friends and me. "Closer," I said, "it's important," I whispered.

I smirked slightly as his footsteps continued to bring him closer to me. Suddenly two large black and yellow shoes appeared in my sight under my bangs only a foot away.

"You can't tell anyone, ok? Come down here," I whispered. He did as I said and bent down. That's when I pounced. I quickly sprang to my feet and threw myself on top of him. He was on his back and I was straddling him at the waist. I wrapped my hands around his neck and began to squeeze.

He reached his arms up on either side of my head as if he were trying to grab the air that was escaping his lungs. "Now listen carefully, Sora. This is very important and I need you to understand. Are you listening?" I said.

He gasped but didn't speak. I clenched my teeth together and spoke, "I said…" I squeezed more, "are you listening?!" He tried to say something. "What?" I asked him. "Stay where you two are, or Sora dies!" I threatened to Donald and Goofy as they came closer. They obeyed.

"Ye—yes," Sora spoke through gasps.

"Good," I said. "Now…_If you ever hurt another one of us again, you'll pay_. Ok?" I started squeezing again. A few more seconds, and he'd be dead. "If you touch one more hair on any of my brother's heads, I'll make sure you die the _slowest, most painful and torturing death_ _that you can imagine_. And I won't just stop there, I'll hurt all those closest to you…_everyone you love WILL DIE!"_ Of course the part about hurting his loved ones wasn't completely true. I would never hurt Kairi. After all, she was my loved one too. But everyone else would pay if he stepped out of line again. "Do you understand?"

"I—I—understand," he said. The next thing I knew, I heard the summoning of a Keyblade and then I was in excruciating pain as he stabbed it in my back. I slid off his stomach and landed on my side. He jumped up and took a few deep breaths.

I was lying on the ground, the side of my face resting partially in a small, cold puddle. I opened my eyes and waited for the blurs to focus clearly. Sora started to run with the others away as I yelled. "SORA!" He stopped his running right where I had been with Demyx in his last moments by the exit of the opening.

"Sora, come on," Donald said.

"Yeah, forget about her," Goofy said.

"You and I have unfinished business," I spoke angrily.

"You're right," Sora said. He spun around took a fighting stance. I smiled and changed out of my Organization uniform. I summoned both keyblades and then charged.

After a while, he activated one of his Drives and dashed at me with double his normal strength and speed. I kept well with the fight. Neither of us got the upper hand for more than thirty seconds at a time.

"Sora! Try another Drive!" Goofy yelled from the side with Donald—he had been ordered by Sora to stay there. This battle was our business, not theirs.

Sora's first Drive had worn off a while ago, but he soon summoned another. This time his clothes turned all blue instead of red and he only had one keyblade. He was floating slightly above the ground. He began to circle me, gliding gracefully. A sparkling mist floated behind him. I was prepared when he pointed his weapon at me. White light beams began to shoot out. I easily blocked some of them. But it wasn't that easy. I was starting to become tired, but I knew I couldn't give up.

Soon that Drive wore off and Sora was only as strong as me. "I need more," Sora said panting.

"Sora! No! You shouldn't summon another Drive!" Donald yelled.

"Why?" Sora asked.

"If you use too many Drives within a short time period, you could accidentally summon Anitdrive!"

"What's that?"

"It's from overusing. You do become more powerful but you can't heal yourself and you can't change back whenever you want. You shouldn't try it!"

"I'll risk it!" Sora yelled.

And so he did. And it happened. Instead of the Sora I was expecting to see after the light from the summoning disappeared I found a smoky creature in his place. It was shaped like Sora and all but it was completely black besides two large, glowing, yellow eyes. His fingers were now claws. Identical ones ripped through the toes of his shoes also. He reminded me of a Shadow Heartless, with a body as black as night and two stars for eyes, uncontrolling of the power they possess.

He looked up at me and growled. He took a step closer and a black smoke trailed behind him. "You're in for it now, Nobody!" Donald said quietly.

_What?_ I said looking at him. But then suddenly he was running at me on all fours. He was in front of me in a second and had clawed me right across the stomach. "Ahh!" I screamed not from the pain but from the fear that was now coursing through every cell in my body.

Before I could react though, he clawed me again and I was in the air. He moved faster then anyone I had ever seen. He would claw me, hitting me higher into the air and then continue this. As I was constantly thrown higher and higher he followed.

The last sweep he made did it. I flung my head back as I floated there, half dead. He changed back to his normal self in front of me. I dropped my keyblades and waited until they hit the ground some fifty feet below us. I then fell too.

I landed facedown with a thump, droplets of water from the earlier battle splashing up against me. I was numb and weak, I used the last of my strength and summoned away my keyblades…I wouldn't be using them anymore.

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Yep. There you go. Sorry guys. I wanted it to go longer for this chapter. But I liked where this ended. So enjoy. And comment and all that junk. Thank you for reading

Love, Sarah


	27. War of Realms Part 3

**Hey guys sorry this took so long to put up. I've been busy and Fanfiction was having issues and I couldn't get it to go up on the site. Sorry but ok, here we go.**

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I had never felt this numb in my life. All the times that I had lost someone couldn't even amount to the dead feeling that hung all throughout my body. I was cold, but hot at the same time. Everything went blurry. I tried to lift my head, but it dropped back on the cold ground in an instant.

I heard a 'whishing' sound next to me. Although my eyes were open I couldn't see anything. Someone had appeared next to me from a portal. I tried desperately to make the blurs turn back to people. A pair of black leather boots came into focus in front of my face. A long black cloak brushed the top of the boots. _Xemnas?_

"The Organization!" I heard King Mickey say. He must've just run up.

He bent down and rolled me over so that I was lying in his lap. His hood was up but I could see clearly who it was. "What do you want?" I said harshly with the only strength I had left.

"I've come to help you," he said pulling me more upright.

"I don't want your help, Riku," I said angrily, pushing his hands away.

"Shhh," he threatened. "Only the King knows that it's me," he said.

"Get your hands off me! I don't want anything to do with you guys!"

"I thought we were friends," he said with the voice I remembered belonging to him…not the one that belonged to Ansem.

"We can't be friends—not after what _your_ people did to me!" I said trying to move away from him but failing miserably and falling onto the ground once more.

He placed me in his lap again. "They did this to you? Sora did this?" he said placing his hand on one of the wound on my stomach. I nodded glaring at Sora. "Come on, Raene…" he said quietly, hiding his voice.

"Let's take him down too!" Sora yelled.

"No!" the King said.

"Your Majesty?" Donald asked.

"He's not here to fight, I mean. I think he's just trying to help her. We'll wait till another day for them, ok guys?" he said.

"At least let me take you to your people," Riku said picking me up and holding me.

"Put me down, you snake!" I hissed.

He obeyed and placed me on the ground. "I'm still going to get you home, ok?"

"Whatever," I said quietly. He draped my arm over his shoulder and wrapped his arm around my stomach. He had to crouch slightly to be around my height.

Suddenly there was an explosion. Riku and I both turned and looked up. High above our heads, where a battle was taking place, a large boulder had been knocked off the cliff and was now hurdling towards us. We turned to see who was in its path and saw King Mickey, who was walking away with Sora and the others.

"Your Majesty!" Riku yelled. He immediately covered his mouth because he had forgotten to disguise his voice. Goofy noticed the boulder heading towards the King. He lunged forward and pushed the King out of the way only to have himself hit in the head by the massive rock. He was knocked back and landed, motionless, against the opposite cliff.

Donald and Sora ran over immediately—King Mickey watched nervously from behind. It was obvious by their cries—he was dead.

"The fool deserved it!" I said half laughing. Riku grabbed my other arm and twisted it painfully. "Owww!" I winced.

Riku summoned a portal and walked me through it. It opened up on the cliff where Riku had knocked me out the first time we met. Xemnas was standing at the edge watching the battle below him. Maleficent's castle stood across the valley, not too far away. I looked at him and then up at Riku. It was like being around the same person.

Riku set me down. Xemnas had failed to notice our presence at this point. "Do you want me to stay and help?" Riku asked.

"I pulled my knees to my chest and placed my chin on the top. "I never want to see you again, Riku," I said not looking at him. "Not after what Sora did. I realized that I'm never gonna think twice about you guys ever again. You are my enemy! Every time I had the chance to kill one of you guys, I always held back because you were my sister's friends. Because I was once one of you guys. But, as I made it clear to Sora, if you lay a hand on any of Organization members, you will pay! We're getting stronger everyday and soon we'll be able to eliminate all of our enemies! So get lost, Riku! We once could have been friends, but now, that relationship is over. Leave!"

"As you wish, Raene. I hope you change your mind," he said disappearing into a portal.

"Who's your friend, Xarene?" Xemnas asked after a moment of silence.

I turned to look at him. He had his back to me and his hood was up. "He's not my friend!" I whispered angrily.

"What's he doing here, then?" he asked.

"Probably here with his murderous friends trying to win the battle," I said looking out at the swarms of Heartless and Nobodies.

"Where is Demyx?" he asked. I gulped and then stopped breathing. "Well?" he said turning around. My eyes were wide and watery. They were slowly darting across the valley trying to focus on something that would take my mind off of Demyx. "I asked you a question," he said turning back around.

"Superior…he—he didn't make it," I stuttered out.

He sighed. "So the Keyblade Master has taken another one away, has he?"

I swallowed. "I tried to—to avenge Demyx, sir," I said.

"Avenge a Nobody? You tried to kill Sora?" he said.

"Yes sir," I answered.

"Why would you try to kill our only chance to become whole, Xarene?" he said.

"I—I was angry. He took away someone close to me. I only have one more friend left, Xemnas. And—and I don't even know where he is," I said ashamed somewhat.

"You, being a Nobody, shouldn't attach yourself to someone else, especially another Nobody. You don't have feelings and therefore cannot care for someone. It's all in your head, Xarene."

"It doesn't matter, Xemnas. I failed. He's too powerful. I'm lucky to have gotten away."

He turned around again. "Sora did this to you?" I nodded still not looking at the wounds on my body. "You should get those fixed up, you look terrible," he said turning once more to the battle.

I grimaced and tried to stand up. He wasn't even gonna bother to help heal me. I painfully made my way to the cliff wall behind me and rested against it. I then looked down at my body.

The first major wound given to me by Sora was across my stomach. It was a huge gash and was bleeding. My arms and legs had lines of cuts going in every direction. My clothes were torn up and were stained. My shorts were almost completely red and my shirt had changed to a dark purple from the blood dripping off my shoulders, neck, head, and face. My skin was completely covered in dried up blood with fresh blood also oozing down. I could barely move my fingers to summon a potion. I through it in the air and relaxed as the soothing feeling coursed through by body.

The blood disappeared and the wounds stopped bleeding. Unfortunately, the scratches, cuts, and gashes were still visible as scars that were starting to heal and my clothes were still torn apart. I was able to move more though, and more easily and comfortably. I smiled as I rested against the cold wall.

Suddenly Mickey, Donald, Sora, and Goofy ran up behind Xemnas, failing to notice me. I thought the dog was dead. Man, now there's one more to take care of. I was about to start listening to their conversation but a portal opened up beside me.

I didn't look up but I could tell by the skinny legs and arms that appeared at the corner of my eye who it was. "Axel…" I said quietly. Xemnas was too busy with Sora and the others to have noticed the redhead next to me. If he had, Axel would be in big trouble. I didn't have to worry for right now—as long as he and I stayed it the shadows of the cliff, they probably wouldn't notice—and with all the noise from below, they most likely couldn't hear us talking. "I—I missed you," I said looking up at him. He looked tired. There were bags under his eyes and his spikes of red hair were messed up.

"Missed you too," he said not looking down at me. "You don't seam very angry with me."

I had almost forgot about what he had done. "Axel…I—I just didn't want you risking your own life for mine. I don't want Kairi to die in my place. As my best and last friend, I want you to respect my wishes. So why won't you just—"

But I was cut off. "Last friend?" he said looking down at me. "What happened to Demyx? You guys get in a fight or something? You look like you did and I bet you lost guessing by your torn clothes and wounds. Right?"

I didn't answer. I just sat there and prayed that I wouldn't have to say that Demyx didn't make it again.

"Raene…where's Demyx?"

"Uh-uh," I said shaking my said side-to-side once.

"Raene? What happened to him? What happened to you?" he asked getting on the ground next to me.

"No…" I said turning my head from his direction.

He grabbed me and turned me to him. "_Raene_," he said sternly.

"Don't make me say it, Axel. I can't do it," I said closing my eyes so I couldn't see his demanding eyes.

He pulled me into a hug and whispered in my ear, "Who did this to you? I'm gonna take care of this."

I pulled away and opened my eyes. I turned and looked at Sora. "Nobody," I said. "It's nothing. But Demyx is—is gone, that's all I have to say."

He stood back up. "Oh man…this is terrible." It was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry for kidnapping Kairi, Raene. I just—I just care about you _sooo_ much. You have no idea, Raene. I just…" he sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.

Xemnas disappeared into a portal and the King dived in after him. "I'm against the Organization now, Raene. You realize it was just you, Demyx, Roxas, and Naminé that I cared about. All of them are gone except you. I have nothing left to fight for with these Nobodies. I'm gonna disappear, so why bother. These people—Sora and the others, they aren't my enemy. Sora is just Roxas with a mask on. I should help him, right? If I'm gonna disappear and see the people I miss again it's not so much a bad thing that Sora and his friends killed them. I don't need to be whole again because I have nothing left. That girl from my past—you were right, she doesn't know who I am—I have nothing to return to. The only ones I care about, they have nothing to return to either. I'll see them again, so I should spend the time I have left to help Sora out—to help Roxas out—it's really him. I don't want to go against your wishes. I just wish you didn't have to have the fate of Nobody."

"Axel…" I said looking at him.

"I'm gonna do the right thing," he said.

"What are you gonna do?"

"Way to fall in their trap, Sora," he said loud enough for the others to hear him. They ran up and stood with their weapons at the ready. "Don't you get it? It's their set up. Xemnas wants you to destroy the Heartless. That's his plan," he said walking forward and leaving me sitting by the wall.

"Xemnas?" Donald asked.

"The guy that you all just saw. Organization XIII's leader," he said as if they were different people from him. I guess they were since he was kicked out but he couldn't help who he was. "Got it memorized?" he asked tapping the temple on his head.

"Why does the Organization want to kid rid of the Heartless?"

I walked up to Axel with a little difficulty. I leaned against his shoulder and laced his arm with mine. He looked down at me, frowned, and then turned back to Sora. "Your Keyblade, Sora. Every Heartless that you kill with it releases a captive heart. Those hearts are what the Organization is after."

"You act like they are different people from you two. Raene's with the Organization. We just saw her with another member," Sora said.

"I hope she changed her mind," he said looking down at me raising his eyebrows.

"What do they want with the hearts?" Donald asked.

Axel turned back. "Hmph. I'm not telling," he said.

"Tell us now!" Donald said.

"You! You're Axel. You're the one who kidnapped Kairi!"

"Yeah. That was me," he said.

I shuddered next to him. He pulled his arm away from me and instead placed it around my shoulders in a protecting way.

"Where is she?" Sora asked emotionally unstable. Axel looked down at me and closed his eyes, obviously upset by this conversation. "Please tell me," Sora said begging.

"Look, about Kairi, I'm sorry, but…" Axel began but was cut off.

"Axel!" Saïx's voice sounded.

"Uh-oh," Axel said summoning a portal as the blue-haired Nobody appeared.

"No, Axel!" I said trying to grab him as he stepped into the portal. "Don't leave me again!"

Sora ran forward to also try and stop Axel but Saïx held out his arm to hold back the brunette. Saïx said, "We'll ensure that he receives the maximum punishment. So don't worry, Xarene and Sora.

"I don't care about that!" Sora said. I tried to block out their voices as I kept my back to them and stared at place where Axel had been with me not two seconds ago. "Just let me go to the Realm of Darkness!"

"Don't worry about Kairi, Sora. We are taking very good care of her. That goes to you too Xarene. She's fine," Saïx said.

I turned around to look at them. "Please take me to her," Sora said.

"Is she really that important to you?" Saïx asked Sora but looking at me quickly before turning back to him.

"Yes. She's more important to me than anything!" Sora said.

"Show me!" Saïx said.

Sora stood still looking at the ground for a minute. He then bent down on the ground and sat there on his hands and knees begging to Saïx. "Please. I have to see her."

"Of all the things I've heard about you missing her, Xarene, I never seen you bow to me to see her again," Saïx said. I couldn't believe that Sora was on the ground just to see her.

"I can see that you care for her, Sora. But the answer's no," he said.

Sora jumped up in anger with his Keyblade ready.

"If you're angry with me, direct that rage at the Heartless," Saïx said summoning a group of them. "The hearts from these powerful monsters collect in Darkness and then they weave together and make Kingdom Hearts. When that time comes, we can finally exist once more."

Those were the last words I heard. I noticed that Maleficent appeared and began to speak with Saïx and Sora. I was only thinking of Axel. He had left again and I didn't know when I would see him again. What if I didn't? Time was running out before the battle that would determine our fate would begin. What if I didn't see Axel again before it was too late?

"Xarene!" Saïx said.

I snapped out of my thoughts. "What? Huh?" I said.

"We're leaving," he said summoning a portal. I didn't move. I didn't want to go back with them. I was still angry at Sora but what Axel said about helping them was staring to make sense. I was raised hating traitors but now I was considering being one. "Well?"

"I don't want to go," I said simply.

"Excuse me?" he said.

"I want to find Axel, I don't want to go back," I said more sternly.

"So you would rather be traitor and die along with your pyro friend?"

"Exactly," I said smiling.

But that didn't work out so well. Saïx grabbed my arm before I could react and dragged me into the portal. I was too weak to fight back. "It's time you learned your place, Xarene! We need you as much as Sora. Come back with me, and you can see your sister!" he said as the portal enclosed us.

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**Hope you enjoyed. I'm sorry to say that this story is winding up my friends. Only a few more chapters left. But let's not talk about sad things. When the time comes for it to end, we'll face it together right? Right. Anyhow. Sorry about the wait.**

**Review please**

**-Sarah-**


	28. Kairi

Hey everybody. Here's chapter 28 for you guys. I don't own Kingdom Hearts, by the way. Raene is my only creation. I noticed that I haven't been putting that disclaimer up as much as I should. :) Sorry this one is so long. I apologize. Also, I will have some comics posted on my profile that have Raene in them soon. I'll let you all know.

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The second we exited the portal, Saïx released his grip on my arm. I froze in thought as he walked down the hall.

_I can see Kairi? I can see her! _I thought over and over again. Of course I wanted to see her. It was one of the things I wanted most in this not-life of mine. I also wanted to go back and stop my friends from dying.

I thought that if I had some way of traveling to the past, I would only stop my friends' untimely disappearances. I wouldn't bother trying to stop myself from even becoming a Nobody. If I didn't become one I would have never met the best friends one could ask for. I would never know what it was like to have people like them so close to me.

Naminé—the motherly friend. She was like a child at times but at others she was the one that knew how to make right decisions and fix problems. My 'other' in a way, just like Kairi was.

Roxas—he was just an average teenager. He was normal and I wouldn't have it any other way. He didn't get angry or sad often. He was always in a happy mood and the adorable expression on his face would always make you smile, even if you were feeling your worse.

Then there was my best friend, Axel—a thousand words couldn't describe him. He was like a god at times. His constant mood swings could tick anyone off, but that was what made him who he was. He made up for it with his smooth way of talking. His captivating eyes, fiery spikes of hair, and dazzling smile gave him the appearance of an angel. Axel was there for you when you needed a shoulder to cry on and…and…like I said…there was no way explain him succinctly.

I was just so worried that I wouldn't be able to see him again before our time ended. I wanted to tell him that this death-fated life was made great because of his constant love. A continuous wave of nervousness passed over me. I had a strange feeling that I wouldn't see his smile, his green orbs, his spiky flames, not until we met again in our heaven. What if his time ended before I saw him again?

_No don't think that! _I said to myself. I tried thinking of something else. _Demyx_…great, another sad thought. I had never noticed till this year how great of a friend Demyx was. He had been quiet most of the time. He was friendly when I first came here, then when his acceptance from the superiors became important, he never talked to us. He didn't pay attention at all—not even to his closest friend, Larxene—but I guess that was also because Larxene grew close to Marluxia. But now that Naminé and Roxas were gone and Axel was constantly getting in trouble, Demyx was the only one left to talk to. I still wondered why I had had that dream about him. Was it supposed to be a sign of something to happen in the future? No, it couldn't be—he was gone now. Maybe it was to show me something else, a vision of something, but not of Demyx himself. Hmmm?

Demyx was just like Axel. He didn't have as many mood swings as my redheaded friend but he could easily go from being bubbly and happy to being angrier than a bull. Like Axel, I could always cry on his shoulder and he would always be there for me if I needed him. What were my feelings for him? They could be nothing more than the ones I had for my other friends.

What I had been told for the last nine years about not being able to feel was a load of crap. I could feel, and so could all the other Nobodies. We DID exist. Was I not standing here in the hallways of this castle? Did this castle not truly exist here in this world? And did this world not truly exist in the universe? It was stupid; we were as real as any human. Our feelings were true, too. Did we not get sad if we were made fun of? Did we not get happy if someone did something nice for us? Did we not get angry if someone was mean to us? It was true—we could feel! We did! All the way from the older members to the younger ones. Why were we told this?

"Xarene?" I heard my name being called.

I looked up suddenly. "Huh?" I asked.

"Do you want to see your sister?" Saïx asked.

I stared at him for a minute. "You would actually let me see her? After the fact that I said I would rather be a traitor than be with you all?"

"You didn't mean it," he said. "You were just angry. We all know that you would never betray us—you've seen what happens to traitors. Do you want to end up like the others—Marluxia, Larxene, Axel?" I didn't answer. "So do you?" I nodded.

But did I really want to see her? Well, of course I did. I hadn't seen her in nine years and she was my sister after all. I followed Saïx down the hall to a dark archway. On the other side was a dark spiraling staircase going downward. It was stone and lined with torches. It seamed just like a staircase in an old mid-evil castle. Down to the dungeon we walked.

So I wanted to see her. But I also didn't want to tell her everything now. I had decided that I would eventually, even if it would be putting a lot on her shoulders at once. She needed to know, didn't she? I had to have someone know about me?

I believed that the other Nobodies truly existed despite their name. They were as real as anything. But I didn't. I had been erased from existence when I was six. Because of some stupid prophet, my life had been wiped off the face of the planet. No one remembered me. Well, maybe that wasn't true…there were my parents. But they were both dead. Could they truly know who I was? My mother had been dead before I was forgotten. Did she know that she had another daughter? Or was Kairi her only love still alive? And what of my father? Was I still his little girl? Did he, up in heaven, know that he had twins and not just one girl? Could they see me when they looked down upon us? Or had they forgotten me, too? Just like everybody else…

Saïx and I came to the bottom of the long staircase finally. The hallway that opened up was very long and bright. It was simply tall white walls and a grey patterned floor. Every fifty or so feet there was a large cage where our prisoners were held behind thick, metal bars. Saïx walked on ahead and I followed.

What was I supposed to do? What Axel had said about helping the others made somewhat sense. He was going to disappear no matter what, and since Sora was really Roxas, why not help him out right? Axel was an enemy of the Organization now and would probably do whatever he could to mess with them. And since I knew I was going to disappear also, despite the fact that the prophecy said that I might not, I should side with Axel and help Sora too. That prophecy would obviously turn out to be true—I was fated to fade away, just like my brothers and sisters. I knew I wasn't going to tell Kairi now, but I would when the fated day came—it wasn't too far away.

I looked up at Saïx who was slowly making his way done the hallway, passing groaning prisoners with outstretched arms, begging to be let free. I tried to ignore them. I wondered about the members' true intentions and whether they really wanted to continue with the making of our Kingdom Hearts.

"If you had a choice, would you have still kidnapped me?" I asked Saïx before I could help myself.

He glanced quickly over his shoulder at me. As he kept his yellow eyes on me, I summoned my cloak and changed out of my shorts and shirt, which I was freezing in.

"Because I don't hold a grudge against you, you know," I said looking at the ground.

He turned back around. "It was an order; I must do what my superiors ask of me," he said coldly.

"But if you were free to make your own decisions, would you have done that anyway?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I just was thinking…I'm kinda glad that you did."

He glanced back again. "Glad? You are glad that I took you away from your family?" he said turning back to the hallway once more.

"Yeah. I wouldn't have met these people if you hadn't," I said smiling.

And that was true. I wouldn't have been that happy on the islands. Not only would I not have ever met Axel and my other friends, but I probably wouldn't have that great of a life there. Everyone obsessed over Kairi; it probably wouldn't be that different if I was there too. Like I said, I didn't believe that I deserved to live a normal life. Why? Because I was Darkness. That was what I represented from the moment I was born. I was born with it, that's what made my heart the way it was. The necklace was what proved it. Although my heart was half dark and half light, as was everything, it was destined…fated in fact, to fall to the shadows.

My sister. She, too, had the two halves of a heart like everyone else, but her aura was of Light. She didn't see the blackness in her heart. That's what made her pure. She and the other Princesses of Heart were the only people who had such pure hearts; they couldn't see Darkness. Even if I had stayed on the islands, I wouldn't have been one of the Princesses of Heart. I wasn't pure enough.

"Saïx?" I asked.

"Hmmm?" I heard him say.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You just did."

"No, seriously. Can I?"

"Do I really have a choice whether you ask me or not, Raene?" he said.

"What?" I said, eyes wide.

"What?" he asked confused as to why I had asked 'what.'

"You called me 'Raene,'" I said. "You never call me that."

"Well, it is your name, after all," he said not caring.

"But you guys always used to get on to me when I used that name. You guys wanted me to use 'Xarene,'" I said.

"You were never supposed to be one of us. We only wanted you to be here with us. We hoped that you would be more like Naminé. You were supposed to be Nobody but not be a member, you understand? But you were too much like the members to not be one. You didn't show enough strange gifts like Naminé. You had terrific fighting abilities and the will of one of us."

I wasn't even like a real Nobody. I hadn't been in a past life at any point. Everyone else had once been somebody. Naminé and Roxas had too, but they didn't have the choice to be one or not. They technically weren't the same person as Kairi and Sora. They didn't have any memories of being them. They were different and weren't supposed to exist.

Even the members like Axel had done something to make them become a Nobody. Axel had told me that he was the reason that his love would be dead if they had ever had that past. He said that he had made stupid mistakes, which led to his creation as a Nobody.

Nobodies like Naminé, Roxas, and I didn't make any mistakes. We didn't have a choice. Roxas and Naminé weren't supposed to exist. They had only been in Darkness for a short time before Sora and Kairi woke up again. I never chose this fate either I didn't have an other. I was the same person I was before. I just lived in this world off my sister; her heart was the only thing that connected me back to being human. Now there was nothing left. I was different now.

"Was it hard to raise the other members?" I asked changing the subject.

"What? Raising five babies is no picnic. Of course it was hard. Not to mention we had no motherly figure to help us out or anything," he said.

I laughed. "How'd you all manage it?" I asked.

"I never really liked you wailing kids. I tried to get along with them but Axel lit me on fire once when I was trying to have one of his first real conversations. Ever since then, I just gave the jobs to the other members until they were old enough that they didn't need a babysitter."

"Who raised who the most then? I can't see Xaldin having the patience to teach a toddler how to talk. He'd probably stab them if they got too annoying," I said laughing at the image.

"Well, Marluxia took a liking to Larxene right away. Not that he had a choice; she crawled after him no matter where he went. Xigbar kinda took care of Axel. Zexion also helped out with him. Naminé was mostly raised by Marluxia."

"What about Demyx?" I asked.

"He had days where he would start screaming in high-pitched whines if he was in Marluxia's arms. We'd then let Zexion take care of him. But then, Demyx, being complicated, would sometimes react the same way when he was with Zexion. He was a handful, I tell you."

I laughed again. "Besides the hard work…wasn't it sort of fun? I mean being together for so long like a big family, didn't you enjoy somewhat?" I asked.

"Maybe just a little," he said in a bored tone but I could tell he was smiling. "I'd rather be with my old family more."

"Your old family?" I said.

"Mm-hm," he said. "I may not look it but I was quite the catch in my past life."

"What?" I said dumbly.

"I was married and had a son. About a year older than you I suppose. They're still out there somewhere. I've been away for fifteen years without seeing either of them."

"Is that the reason why you try so hard to complete Kingdom Hearts…to see your wife and son again?" I asked.

"Yes."

"What happened that made you become a Nobody?" I asked.

"My wife was very ill and needed an organ transplant to survive."

"What organ? A heart?" I asked.

"Yes," he said simply.

"How would you continue living if you gave her your heart?" I asked shocked.

"I wouldn't. But I would have done anything to save her. I didn't want her to die. She was so young and beautiful; it wasn't right for someone like her to have her life ended so early."

_That seamed a lot like what Axel thought about me. He would rather have me live without him then have my life ended so early. _

"So by giving her your heart…"

"I became a Heartless," he finished.

"And your Nobody?"

"I guess since I lost my heart for a good reason, it proved I was strong-willed and my body became who I am today."

"I understand your reasoning of wanting to become whole again. But still the prophecies say that even though our Kingdom Hearts will be completed, we will fail in becoming whole. Why do you all go against what they say?"

"Pft…Xemnas goes by them and so do those who follow him," he answered.

"But _why_? You're just wasting your energy. We won't succeed!"

"If you had something dear to you waiting, you would be working just as hard as us! But you don't have anything dear to you back there! All of the people who knew you, all your precious people are either dead or don't know that you even existed! All those people you knew and the people you might have met if you had stayed on the islands are now just forgotten and lost memories of your past!" He yelled spinning around. He stopped and I did too. I backed up a few steps. "What? Are you going to cry now?" he spat.

My lip quivered. _Maybe,_ I said to myself. "No," I lied.

"Good we're almost there," he said spinning around once more.

I quickly whipped the tears away from my eyes so that he couldn't see them. I pulled my hood over my head as we approached a large cell. I didn't look up into the cell, but instead, kept my eyes at the floor right on the other side of the bars.

A yellow dog bounded over to the bars and panted, wagging his tail. This was King Mickey's dog. Why was he with Kairi? The dog turned to look at Saïx and he began to growl, barring his teeth angrily. Saïx kneeled and held a small treat through the bars. Pluto, the dog took the treat from him and pranced off to the side and out of my sight.

"Is there anything I can get you, Kairi?" Saïx asked from next to me.

No one answered. It took all my will and strength not to look up and see if she was actually in there or not.

"Suit yourself," he said. He turned to me and whispered so that only I could hear. "Mind what you say, Number VIII."

"Number XIV," I whispered harshly back but still only low enough for him to hear.

"Like I said before…you were never supposed to be a member. But now that Axel isn't one of us, you are to take his place," he answered. "I'll be down the hall. Mind what you say." And the he walked down the hall.

This was it. I would see Kairi for the first time in nine years. Even being able to see what she was seeing couldn't compare to this. The last time I had had a vision of being inside of Kairi was more than a year ago when she returned back to the islands. After that I didn't see her at all. I didn't know how she had grown up in the past year. Back when I was in Twilight Town I had the most recent vision of her. But I hadn't been inside her; it was like I was another person. And sadly, I can't even remember what she looked like in that vision. That was the last vision I would have of her. Now that I had become a Nobody completely, my heart couldn't connect to hers like it used to. My heart wasn't even real anymore. It was just slowly deteriorating into nothing.

My eyes slowly traveled across the ground of the cell. The small room was cast over with a dark pinkish-purple light. Two lamps giving off the glow hung on the back wall. In between them, on the floor, was my big sister. Her back was facing me. She sat pathetically on the floor, her legs bent by her side and her hands falling to the ground. It looked as if she was in a trance.

When she had her heart hidden in Sora's a year ago, I had trouble seeing her sometimes because she wasn't completely connected to me. I had pictured her sitting like a lifeless puppet on the ground staring at nothing in particular. That's how she looked from the back now.

I was in such awe. There she was—my big sister. She had always been like a little sister to me because she was always protected at home while I was leading this sort of life. It always made her seam fragile to me. But now, as she sat not five feet away, she seamed like such a stronger, capable young woman who wasn't affected by any emotions, unlike me. I was about to break into tears any second now.

Kairi sighed and stood up after a few silent minutes. She had no idea that I was standing there. She turned around and faced me. Her pale eyelids were shut and covering her blue eyes. She was taller and looked nothing like the Kairi I remembered from the past nine years. After we had been separated, she cut her hair. Over the past year, she had grown her long crimson hair out again so that hit her shoulders like mine. She was like a mirror to me almost.

She wore a light pink sleeveless dress. Underneath was a white tank top. Attached to the straps of the tank top was a black hood. It amazed me how similar we were. Not only did we have black hoods attached only to our sleeves that, themselves technically weren't part of our outfit, but our shoes were the same too. They were both high tops; hers an Easter purple, mine a light sky blue. And just like she had black ribbons lacing up her legs from her shoes, I too had black and white ribbons doing the same. Her pink dress had a black belt at the waist with two black straps connecting at the front and back. A small pouch hung from her belt. Zippers crossed all over the front of her dress, some zipped, others not. Three small bangle bracelets were on her left wrist. The black chocker she used to wear was gone but the other two necklaces still remained. A small off-white raindrop, and her black and white crystal heart. I quickly flashed my eyes to my neck to make sure mine was hidden.

I looked back up at her. She slowly opened her big eyes. They were still as big and blue as I remembered. They were just like Sora's, Roxas', and Naminé's. When her gaze fell on me standing just a few feet away, her eyes got even bigger.

"Who are you?" she asked. Her voice was similar in a way, but different also. It was just as bold and fearless as before but it seamed older and not as childish sounding.

I didn't answer her. I just stared on silently in shock.

"Are you with that blue-haired guy? What about that Axel guy who kidnapped me? Are you their friends?" she asked taking a step closer cautiously.

"I—I…" I stuttered. What would I say? She came to the bars and placed her forehead against the cold metal so that her face was as close to mine as possible.

"Please. What are you going to do to us?" she said.

"I don't know," I said plainly. And it was the truth. I had no idea what the others wanted to do with Kairi.

"Do you know that guy, Axel?" she asked.

I nodded.

"He a friend of yours?" she asked with an annoyed tone in her voice.

I nodded again.

"So why'd he bring me here? He said that he would let me see Sora, and so far, I don't see Sora," she said pushing off the bars and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Sora?" I asked.

"Yeah. He's my best friend. So you gonna tell me who you are?" she said.

"I can't do that, Kairi," I said simply.

"Why not?" she asked.

"It isn't time," I replied. Part of being in the Organization was to be able to answer others' questions in riddles or in ways that didn't really answer them.

"Time? Time for what? I'm obviously gonna be here a while, why not just tell me your name?" she said annoyed.

"Like I said, it isn't time. Some day soon you will learn all that there is to know. You will figure out many things that are new to you. But I can't tell you now. You will just have to be patient with me, ok, Kairi?" I said changing my tone to a sweet one.

"Be patient? I want my answers now though," she said sinking to the floor and taking the same trance-like position from earlier.

I bent down so that I was level with her once more. "Kairi?" I said.

She looked up at me. "Hmm?"

"I want to tell you everything, believe me, I do. I just can't right now. I can't explain why I can't, but I just can't. At a time, not too far away from now, you will understand why I couldn't tell you now, and you will learn everything. I want to tell you. I've wanted to tell you these things for many years. Just trust me, ok? Can you do that?" I said.

"For many years? Who are you?!" She said throwing her head back aggravated.

"Kairi…" I said sternly.

"I…I have to wait to learn everything. I guess I can. But I don't even know if I can trust you," she said looking at me once more.

"Well then I guess it can't be helped that you don't trust me. But you don't really have a choice. I'm sorry for what my people have done. I'll make sure you are taken care of nicely. I'll see you later, Kairi," I said standing up and making to walk towards Saïx who was waiting down the hall.

"Wait!" she said grabbing my hand.

I turned and looked down at her. She was on her knees, one hand gripping a bar of the cell door and the other, stretched out desperately, holding me within her reach. "Please don't go! I don't want to be alone. I don't know why, but I think you can be trusted; I just don't want to be down here alone again. Please don't go!" She said.

"I have to go, though," I said squeezing her hand slightly.

"Why?" she asked.

I took my other hand and pried hers off mine. "Because," I sighed sadly, "my friend just died and…and I have to go to his funeral."

**----------------**

**Ok. So sorry for the wait and the length of this one. I just had to get a lot of her thoughts down and have Kairi in the same thing. I didn't think it would take so many Microsoft Word pages to get everything I wanted down. **

**Thanks for reading. **

**By the way…when I was talking about Axel and I used the word "succinctly" that means "with few words".**

**It was a vocab word for English and I wanted to use it for some reason. **

**Thanks again. **

**sarah**


	29. The Last Funeral

Hello, everybody! Sorry for the extremely long wait. I feel so bad. School just got out and so I've been hanging out with friends more often and I went out of town for a week. But here I am and I'm here to continue.

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She stared at me for a few seconds. I took a step backwards. Her hand was hanging in midair wishing I would come back to her side. I took one more step back, taking an imaginary snapshot of her face in my mind before turning around and walking down the hall. After I was very far down the hall I reached my hand up to make sure my hood was still covering my face so that, by if some chance, Kairi from her cell, could still see me, she wouldn't know what I looked like.

Saïx stood waiting a few feet from the stairs. I past him angrily and dashed up the dark stairway. He quickly followed. "So where are you off to in such a hurry?" he said.

"Gather the other members," I ordered.

"Excuse me?" he said annoyed that I had told him to do something.

"Demyx just died, Number VII! I want to have some sort of funeral for him. Now go and get the other members…NOW!!" I said after he continued to walk right behind me without obeying.

"Fine. See you in the meeting chamber in five minutes," he said.

I didn't want to have a long funeral for him. The longer I would be there, the more likely I was to fall apart. Just a simple gathering, a few nice words, and then my own private mourning for him. Nothing special. We didn't have time to make it more themed to Number IX; the fated day was coming and we all had to prepare. Or at least the others did. I was going to have to think long and hard about what I would be fighting for these last few days. My family or Sora and the others? What was more right? What did I care for more?

I dashed up staircases, two steps at a time until I reached the hallway where my room was located. I got on my knees and reached under my bed for the box with my funeral clothes in it. I quickly dressed into them and threw the box back in its place before I could see Demyx's suit sitting on top of the stack.

I teleported to the meeting chamber where two of the remaining members were waiting. Luxord gave me a look that I couldn't completely interpret. Was it of pity for my loss? Was it of anger from most likely separating him from a good game of poker? Or was it something else? Xigbar nodded to me as I retreated to an area of the room where neither of them were standing.

Saïx and Xemnas entered soon after. "Well, let's get this over with," the Superior said. "Saïx, did you prepare the room?"

Saïx nodded.

_What are they talking about?_ I thought. Xemnas nodded to Luxord. The blonde walked behind me and opened a portal. "Please step through, Xarene," he said.

I raised my eyebrow and entered. We appeared in a room, which brought a big wave of déjà vu. The five of us all appeared in a small sectioned off area of what was obviously a much larger room. We were all in a small rectangle with white sheet as the walls. Through the walls I could see blue and red lights. On the ground was a panel shaped like a grave with a sitar engraved on it and the words "The Melodious Nocturne" next to it.

I had been here once before. It was when we had the funeral for Xaldin. White curtains were blocking off the rest of the room back then too. Was there a room in the castle that had graves or was this just coincidence? _OR_…had the other members built this just after those two died? I didn't have a lot of time to think since Xemnas immediately started talking.

"It is quite sad that we lost Number IX as we all know," he said. He continued to speak and I just stared at the ground where the red grave-shaped panel was. "It was a sacrifice needed to be closer to our goal," he said.

I looked up._ Was he talking about Demyx being a sacrifice? _I looked back down.

"Is there anything you'd like to say, Xarene?" someone asked.

"Huh?" I said looking up once more.

Xigbar was staring at me. "Do you want to say anything about Demyx?" he asked.

"Demyx…" I said. I kneeled down on the ground and placed my hand on the panel like I did at Xaldin's funeral. "I—I don't know what to say," I said.

"It's OK, Xarene. It's hard, we know. He was one of your best friends, and you just can't put what you want to say into words, right?" Xigbar said.

I was thankful that Xigbar knew what I felt. He understood. I nodded.

"Can we leave then, we have to plan," Saïx said annoyed.

I quickly looked over at him. _I hate him._ "Come on, Xarene," Xigbar said. I stood up. He walked over to me, opened up a portal and walked me through it. "It's better if you just go and be by yourself for a while," he spoke quietly into my ear.

"Where was that place?" I asked as we appeared in the hallway outside my room.

"No where special," he said opening my bedroom door and gesturing me to enter.

"Are there more graves in there for the other members?" I asked stopping him from pushing me any further into my room.

"No, we made that as soon as both Xaldin and Demyx passed on since they were the only two we had funerals for. Now get some rest. We'll be giving out missions in a few hours and you might have one," he said softly pushing me in my room and closing the door behind me.

I went to my bed and grabbed the boxes of drawings I still had to place on my wall. _What was the point? I was gonna be gone soon and there would be no reason to a room covered with hundreds of drawings in an empty castle in the sky of a dark, mysterious town. _Despite that, I quickly finished placing them, one by one, on the walls. Every single one.

I tried very hard not to look at the drawing as I placed it up with a thumbtack. I didn't want to take the risk of it bringing back sad memories.

Once they were all up I walked slowly to my bed. I didn't bother putting the boxes away or changing to my other, more comfortable clothes. I flopped, face first onto my bed. The rain started to fall from the black sky outside my window as I slowly drifted off into a well-deserved sleep.

I was awoken a few dreamless hours later by a small knocking on my door. I slowly opened my tired eyes and turned my head so I could see the door. "Come in," I tried to say but it only came out as a whisper. Somehow they heard me and came in. Xigbar was standing there with a sympathetic look on his scarred face.

He walked over to me and kneeled down by the bed. "Xemnas gave Luxord and I missions that you were supposed to go on as well but I'm just gonna let you stay home this time. You need to rest up and be prepared for the next few days," he said. His behavior and all was something completely alien to Xigbar.

"Why? Xigbar, you've never been this caring before. I thought you wouldn't have bothered to make sure whether I need rest or not; you'd just pull me on the mission anyway," I said trying to gain my voice back.

"You're so oblivious, Rae," he said shaking his head.

"What?" I said leaning up on my elbows.

"These next few days are gonna be our last. Xemnas may only care about his Kingdom Hearts—I'm not saying that I don't—it's just that you've been close to me these last nine years and I think we all need to stick together so that we go out with a bang. What do ya think of that?" he said.

I laughed. "I think our last hours should be memorable. We're the biggest threat to the worlds after all," I said.

"Right. So you need to be ready so we can show those Keyblade punks how great we Nobodies are, right to the very end," he said. I nodded. "Then see ya later, Rae," he said before standing up and leaving my room.

_Go out with a bang. I like the sound of that. No, no, no! Help Sora! Help them, that's what I'd decided. Be with Axel meant being with the good guys. Doesn't mean I still can't help the Organization, right? Well at least Xigbar. He's the only one I like left. Right. Keep him alive until my time comes, help Sora, see everybody in the next life. Good plan, Raene. I like it. _My inner thoughts soon tuned out and I fell asleep once more, subconsciously preparing myself for the last battle.

**-----------------**

**Ok, so sorry that took so long to get out guys. And sorry for the lame shortness of this one too. I think I made up for it with last chapter though. My lameness at the funeral was pitiful. I could have at least said what Xemnas had said besides the things Raene heard. But I couldn't think of anything so I just made it so she tuned everything out. She probably just wanted to annoy the others by dragging them to a funeral for her friend. That's how she works. Heehee. Anyhow, I'm gonna try and get the next one up and have the one after that in progress by the end of June. Damn, not even ten chapters left guys. **

**Sarah**


	30. Fighting for Forgotten Friends

Oh my God! I'm sorry for the really long wait guys. I procrastinated doing my summer reading and well I got screwed and had to work a lot. I'm super duper sorry. Please forgive me. Normal speed should be restored when summer is over because I'm busier during the summer than when school is going on. Here's the next chapter enjoy!

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So I was stuck in the castle for a couple of days. I did pretty much nothing. I knew that our last day was quickly approaching so I spent my time visiting all the places around the castle once more (which actually took a couple of days). I spent some time in the library, on the tower, in Naminé's room, the training room, and anyplace else that had something special about them.

After doing so, I decided to carry out my plan. I left the castle, not letting the others know of my departure. I knew where Sora was going and had to act quickly. I was fully aware that this was my last day living. In a few hours I was bound to start fading and then I'd be gone for good.

I headed for Twilight Town, or rather the Dark Realm entrance to the fake town that had been set up. I had learned that a few days ago Xemnas had restricted portals to open into the real Twilight Town (how convenient). Now the only way other than gummi ship was to use the entrance in the fake town and use the computer to travel to the real one. I knew DiZ and Riku had long since left so I had no worries. When I arrived, I took the transportation ray to the real town and went in search or Sora and the others.

I was going to explain, if not everything, most of my past—who I was, my connection to Kairi, everything.

I didn't have to look far for Sora. I opened the doors of the mansion and across the front lawn on the other side of the gates were the exact people I was searching for. I ran up hoping I could do this right.

"Hey, Sora," I said coming to a stop. He didn't seem to notice my presence. Donald, Goofy, and their three friends Hayner, Pence, and Olette were all watching as Sora spoke to the back of King Mickey.

"Why can't you tell me where Riku is?" Sora said holding his arms out.

"I'm sorry, Sora. He made me promise not to—" Mickey stopped as soon as those words escaped his lips.

"So he's ok then? That's great! I'm fine with that, as long as I know he's doing ok," Sora said happily.

"Well, if you're all assured now, why don't we try and find a way to the fake Twilight Town so we can find Kairi," Hayner said.

Sora nodded and turned. His face drained of all color and emotion as his eyes fell on me. The others turned to look at me also.

"So you all are trying to find a way back to the fake town, huh?" I said smiling.

Sora stared at me. Color started to return to his cheeks and a slightly fearful expression appeared across his features. "Rae—Raene, I—I'm sorry. Please just leave the other alone. Spare them, _please._"

I stared at him, confused. "What do you mean?" I said glancing at the others. All of their expressions were of fear too.

"I understand you're angry for what I did. I—if you want to try and get even, just let the others go; they didn't do anything."

I grinned. "I'm not here to fight, Sora; I'm here to help you," I said.

All of them sighed. I caught the eye of King Mickey who smiled. I had the slightest feeling that he was happy that I was finally here to help and come clean with everything.

"You're here to help?" Sora asked.

I nodded. "Sora…the war that's been going on inside me—my heart fighting over whether I should fight along side the Organization or with you guys—it's finally ended. And even though I've been a part of the Organization more than half my life, I've realized that the right thing for me to do is to help you guys finally take down Xemnas. Axel and I never really liked him anyway. We wanna help," I said.

"Well then let's not waist anymore time," King Mickey said. "Let's find a way into the alternate town."

Everyone nodded. "There's a way to it in the mansion, follow me," I said walking towards the entrance doors.

As we walked in, I glanced up to the left at Naminé's bedroom door. I quickly turned away as Sora noticed my staring at it. I led them up the stairs and to the library on the right side of the mansion. Inside I led them down the stairs and into the dark basement.

"That's the way to the other town. I just came through here. It's easy access from the other side but to get back there we need to get into the computer system," I said pointing at the multi-screen computer. "In the other town there's a portal that will lead us into the Dark Realm."

Pence nodded and went to work with the computer. As he began to figure out the system, everyone else joined into their own conversations. Hayner and Olette stood near Pence talking to each other and Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey struck up a talk about where the King had been lately.

I pulled Sora over to the side of the room. "Sora, we need to talk," I said releasing his arm. His face suddenly became fearful again. "It's nothing bad," I added. He relaxed. "I feel like I need to tell you everything," I said sighing.

"You need to tell me everything?" Sora asked.

"Everything," I breathed. "Everything. My past, who I am, things that maybe could help you on your journey," I said. I glanced quickly at King Mickey and caught his eye. I smiled and he did too. We both turned back to our conversations then.

"Do you remember how I once told you that I lived on Destiny Islands?" I asked.

Sora pondered on it for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I think you mentioned it once."

"I did but I can't exactly call it one of my homes. I had only been there a few hours really. I was six when the Organization took me away. I was just a little girl then, so most of my life has been with Nobodies. Once I had been kidnapped, Naminé was told to swipe the memories of everyone who had ever met me or knew that I existed. All proof that I was alive was gone from the minds of those people forever. There's no hope of them ever remembering them." I said calmly.

"Naminé?" Sora asked raising an eyebrow.

I had the slightest feeling that he, for a second, remembered who she was. "Do you know her?" I asked cautiously.

"No," was his simple answer. "But…I've heard that name," he said.

"Really?" I asked wondering myself where he could have heard it. I was sure that I hadn't mentioned it when I was around him—but then again, maybe I _had._

"Yeah…when Donald, Goofy, and I all woke up in this basement, Jiminy's journal read 'Thank Naminé,'" he said.

I nodded. "You be sure to when you see her again, go it?" I said.

"Again? Who is she? And how do you know I'll see her?" he said.

"You just gotta trust me," I said grinning.

"Ok. So what else? You were kidnapped by Organization XIII?" he said.

"Well…I was raised as a Nobody and I guess I sort of attuned to their ways. Recently, I became a Nobody _completely_. As the years went on, I was slowly losing more and more of my human self. So just a while ago, I had lost all emotions and it was more severe than the inability to feel with other Nobodies. I couldn't feel at _all_. That acute ability to have emotions died down and now I'm exactly like the other members."

"But did you ever really turn to Darkness like the other Nobodies?" Sora asked.

I shook my head. "It's not like I chose this path. You know how everybody is half Light and half Darkness?" He nodded. "Well, there are a few people who are destined to be completely filled of Light. You know seven of them—the Princesses of Heart," I said. Sora's eyes widened at the mention of a relation to Kairi. "There are also people destined for Darkness, however," I continued.

"You?" He asked.

I nodded. "You know someone else like that," I said.

He raised his eyebrow. "Who?" he asked.

"Riku," I said in a whisper.

"Riku?" he repeated. "But…but wasn't that just Ansem doing that?"

"Yes. But his heart _is_ destined for Darkness."

"That can't be true," Sora said denying my words.

"It is. But Riku found a way to fight through the plans Destiny had for him and now he can use the Darkness in a good way," I said reassuring him.

He didn't speak for a while. But I guess he accepted it because he said, "So your heart was destined for Darkness."

I nodded. "Kairi and I—well to make it simple—have a connection. Since our hearts are like complete opposites, they feed off each other," I said.

"What?" he said baffled.

"Long story short—when I was kidnapped and my existence was lost to everyone else, Kairi's and my heart mixed. And although our hearts were destined for either Darkness or Light, we still had half of each in our hearts. I took half of her Light and half of her Darkness. She did the same with mine."

"So basically you two still have half of both in your hearts, right?" he asked.

I nodded. "And you should know that a Princess of Heart pushes away the Darkness in her heart, right?" I asked.

"I guess," was Sora's reply.

"Well that's what she's been doing since I became a full Nobody. And as the Darkness seeps out of her heart and back into mine, the Light in my heart goes to hers," I said.

"That stinks," he said looking at the ground.

"Yeah. But I guess I don't mind. A Nobody is supposed to fade away, right?"

"Yeah. But what's that got to do with you?" he asked.

"Today all of the Light will be gone from my heart and I'll disappear forever," I said.

His eyes widened. "You'll disappear?!" he sad rather loudly.

I nodded slowly. "I'm already a Nobody. The only difference to the other Nobodies is that I still have a heart. But as soon as that fades into Darkness, I'll finally disappear—just like most of the Nobodies I know."

Sora looked down. "Why is your heart specifically connected with Kairi's? Why not one of the other Princesses of Heart?" Sora asked looking back up.

"I—we're—"

"Guys!" Pence yelled. I was truly thankful. I didn't know if I was ready to tell Sora that Kairi was my older twin. We all walked over to the computer where Pence had been working. "I've gotten through all the system hacking. All we have to do is give it a password and we can have full access," he said.

"Password?" Sora said.

"Well it'll have to do with Ansem the Wise, won't it?" King Mickey said.

"Probably…but what could it be?" Sora said.

"Got any ideas? You used to be here all the time," King Mickey said looking at me.

"Why ask me, Your Majesty? _You're_ his friend. And he never liked it when I visited here. That's why he blocked the pathway until shortly before Sora woke up," I said.

"He _is_ your King, Raene. Isn't there something you remember about him?" King Mickey asked.

I sighed and tried to remember the King. It had only been a while ago when I remembered his name and what he looked like. He was my godfather but I only had a few memories of him. "Hmmm…" I closed my eyes. "Ice cream," I said.

He always gave Kairi and I ice cream when we saw him. It was his favorite flavor too. At first it was a bitter salty taste but then it was the most delicious sweet flavor. He always used to tell us that it was such a special ice cream that we couldn't have it all the time. He told us that it was a special treat for special occasions.

"That's right!" King Mickey said. "Ansem the Wise loved ice cream!"

"Yeah. The flavor is the password," I said. It was also the password for my family's munny account.

"Ok. What's the flavor?" Pence asked, his hands hovering over the keyboard.

"Sea-salt," I said almost too fast and merrily for him to hear me. He typed it in. As he finished, the ray hanging above the small platform next to the computer began to glow slightly. "That did it," I said.

"You guys go ahead through," Sora said to Donald, Goofy, and The King. The said people stepped onto the platform and were sent, in a slightly blinding light, to the other world.

Sora and I stepped onto the platform next. "You guys gonna come?" I asked to Hayner, Pence, and Olette.

All three shook their heads. "You guys go and find Kairi. You let us know if everything worked out," Olette said.

Sora and I both nodded. "You'll come and see us again sometime, won't you?" Hayner asked.

"Someday…" Sora said knowing that he might now be coming back to this world anytime soon.

The three friends smiled and pushed the button on the computer. Blue light swallowed Sora and I and we found ourselves in an identical basement. Well, almost identical—the computer where Pence had been working was torn and smashed to pieces in this Twilight Town. I had almost forgot that it had been destroyed.

"This is Roxas's Twilight Town, right?" Sora asked looking from the smashed computer to me.

I nodded. "Come on. The portal should be through here," I said leading them though a door and into a large blue and green room.

"Listen, Sora," I said grabbing his arm. "Axel is my best friend. He's the last Nobody I care about. No one lays a hand on him and gets away with it, got it?!" I threatened.

"Yeah, I got it," Sora said. "Don't hurt Axel."

"The only other Organization member who is worth anything is still in the Organization's headquarters. As much as it's gonna hurt me to see him disappear, I know it's for the best. Once he goes, he'll be whole again. Just…just don't hurt Axel, ok? No matter what!"

"I promise. If he's a friend, why would I hurt him?" he said. He followed as the other three walked into the small portal in the corner. I sighed, took a deep breath, and stepped into the darkness.

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**Ok guys. Once again sorry for the huge wait. I have the next chapter all planned out so hopefully if I can get my summer homework done, I'll put it up shortly. Thanks for waiting. Updating will speed up once school starts again in 3 weeks. Thanks for reading. **

**Sarah**


	31. The Flames Die Out Forever

Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait, I tried super hard to get this one out by the time school started again. I was but also wasn't looking forward to writing this chapter. It's sad but that what I think makes it so good. I wish I didn't have to do this, but I gotta make the story go by the book. Enjoy!

**Oh and I was reading my older chapters and I realize that I like putting a lot of paragraphs. I'm looking at what I've written so far for this chapter and like it's only ever two lines before I skip a line. Heehee. Well I also don't indent, but skipping lines should signify a new paragraph and I like it that way. **

**PS the title of this chapter came from the last chapter in Charles Dickens's **_**A Tale of Two Cities**_** titled 'the footsteps die out forever'. I had to read it for summer reading. And I just now realized the resemblance between that book and my story name. Heehee, I'm a smart cookie. Enjoy!**

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I stepped into the portal behind Sora. The cool atmosphere of the Dark Realm lingered on my exposed skin as I passed through. The blinding light of the entrance to the Realm was dying out ahead; Sora had just walked out of sight. I followed but was suddenly stopped as I found I could no longer walk into the realm; I was stuck at the end of the light with an invisible barrier separating me from the others.

"Sora! Sora! Come back!" I called as he continued to walk forward after his comrades, thinking I was at his heels. He turned around and, after seeing me several yards behind him, dashed over.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"I—I'm stuck. I can't through into the Realm," I said placing my fingers against the barrier as if it was a thin window between us.

He placed his fingers on it too, mirroring me. "Why?" he said.

I thought for a moment. _This couldn't be good._ "Sora, you have to get out of here!" I said sternly.

"What?" he said pulling back.

"It's gotta be Xemnas. He's blocked me from getting into the Realm of Darkness."

"Why?" he said. "Why's he doing that?"

"Something bad. He's obviously angry. Maybe he found out I left the Organization and now he's trying to stop me from doing something—helping you, maybe. I'm stuck in Twilight Town. You have to go on to my world. Here, I'll summon you a portal," I said holding out my hand. Nothing happened. "Uh-oh," I said.

"Uh-oh? What do you mean 'uh-oh?'" he said. "You can't create a portal?"

"This definitely isn't good…." I said. _Xemnas is planning something—but what? Why did he trap me here? What didn't he want me to do?_ "Sora! Behind you!" I said pointing over his shoulder.

Sora spun around summoning his keyblade. Nobodies had suddenly started appearing and were engaging in combat with Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey. Sora turned and looked at me. "I'll be right back, I promise," he said before zooming off to destroy a Dusk.

I watched, wishing I could just get free and fight too. The Nobodies were slowly being killed but more and more seamed to appear as the others died. _I need to help them_. I held my hand out. _I may not be able to summon a portal but I should be able to summon my Nobodies to help._ A dozen or so of my hybrid Nobodies appeared and looked at me with curious faces. "Go help Sora!" I ordered pointing to the brunette. The turned and glided off. _Yes!_ Suddenly, they began to attack Sora. _No!_ "No! You stupid Nobodies! Help! Not attack!" I yelled. _Damnit._

Suddenly I saw fire erupt out of nowhere and a circular weapon decapitated a Dusk that was about to attack Sora from behind. A tall, skinny redhead jumped into the battle. _Axel!_ I opened my mouth to yell his name but I stopped. The invisible barrier separating us began to fog over and my vision was obscured. My voice must have not been able to get through either because I kept screaming their names but neither responded. I tried to listen but the only voices I could hear seemed to be just mumbles.

My vision through the barrier was getting worse and worse with each passing second, until I was sure no one on the other side could see me standing there. Axel, Sora, the others, and the constantly appearing Nobodies were just semi-blurry figures jumping around fighting each other. Like many times before in my life, I was stuck to watch as my friends fought without me, and I not having any idea what was to happen.

Axel was on the ground talking to Sora. After a narrow miss of being seriously attacked by a Dusk, the two began to fight together. Their efforts seemed hopeless as hundreds of Dusks continued to appear. I wish I could see what was happening properly. The last thing I saw was Sora and Axel standing back-to-back, surrounded by Nobodies. After that, everything was too blurry to see.

----------------------

Axel leaped into the air. He stretched his arms out to his sides, his weapons floating just out of the reach of his fingers. The weapons began to spin and circle around him as fire appeared on Axel's body. The heat became more and more intense as the flames on his cloak grew bigger and angrier. The redhead pulled his arms in and then quickly stretched them back out. As he did this, his weapons shot out and there was a huge eruption of fire.

There was a blinding light and everyone had to shield their eyes. As it died away, Sora opened his eyes to see that the hundreds of Nobodies were all gone. "Whoa…" he said. He turned to look for the person who had just saved his life. He found him lying on the ground several feet away.

He dashed over as the last flames speckling Axel faded away. Sora bent down on one knee by his side. "You're—you're fading away…" he said, his hand poised a few inches above the injured boy's chest. Small, black flecks were slowly creeping up through the air and off of Axel's body.

"Heh, that's what happens when one of us puts our entire being into one attack," the redhead responded, acting as though he wasn't slowly dying. He laughed again. "Not that Nobodies actually _have _beings, right?"

Sora simply stared into the deep green eyes of the boy that just sacrificed himself for a complete stranger wondering why he had did it.

"Anyway, off topic. Go, Sora…go find Kairi," Axel said looking away from Sora's dark blue orbs. "Sorry for what I did to her. Tell Raene that too, would ya?"

"When we get to them, you can tell both yourself," Sora said, making Axel think that Raene was still in the Nobodies' world.

"My heart just wouldn't be in it, Sora; haven't got one." He laughed lightly. "I think I'll pass."

"Axel. What were you trying to do…by kidnapping Kairi…what would that have done?" Sora asked.

"I wanted to see my friends again," he replied. "All of them. I wanted things to go back to normal. I thought that if I had Kairi I would be able to get Naminé back and Raene wouldn't have to disappear. And I thought that if you came to save Kairi, I could get Roxas back too."

Sora was confused. He had no idea what Kairi and himself had to do with saving Roxas and Naminé. He knew that Kairi had something to do with Raene but he decided not to ask the redhead about the other two.

"Those three were the only ones I really liked. They all made me feel like I had a heart again. What's funny is…you make me feel the same way," he said smiling.

Sora smiled back to but that action seemed to spark something in Axel. It was the same smile as Roxas and it only made Axel feel worse. The smiled disappeared from his face. "Kairi is in the Nobodies' castle dungeon. Go save her," he said. Axel raised his hand with great effort and summoned a portal for Sora.

"Oh, and I almost forgot. You think you could do me a huge favor?" Axel asked resting his hand at his side again.

"Anything," Sora replied.

"You mind telling Raene I'm sorry…for everything; she'll understand?" Axel said. "And Sora, reach in my pocket right here," he said pointing with his eyes to his side. Sora did and pulled out a scroll tied with blood-red ribbon. "Give that to her. Tell her that I miss her and I'm sorry, ok?"

"Got it. Anything else you want me to tell her?" Sora said holding the scroll close to his heart.

Axel smiled. "Yeah. Tell her that…that…" Axel, not having a heart, didn't quite know how to express the emotion he felt inside him. "You know all the feelings you have for Kairi?"

Sora blushed but not enough to be noticed. "Yes," he answered quietly with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"The feeling that you'd do anything for her. You'd give up your life, your soul…your heart to make sure she was safe."

Sora nodded.

"You'd turn to darkness and you'd fight countless enemies and travel across the worlds, away from you friends and family, just to save her?"

"Yes…" Sora said sadly. Axel's words reminded Sora of all the worry and sadness he felt when he and Kairi had been separated.

"That's how I feel about Raene. I want her to know that I'd do all those things for her…and that…well…just tell her that all the feelings you have for Kairi are the same as how I feel about her." Axel didn't exactly know all the emotions in Sora's heart, and didn't quite understand what he was telling Sora to tell Raene. "OK, Sora? Can you do that for me?" He said smiling sadly.

"Sure—Of course," he replied trying to put on his happiest smile, failing miserably as tears built up behind his eyes.

"Thanks, Roxas," Axel said.

-------------------

_Damnit!_ _What was happening? _It had been several minutes of silence and blindness. I couldn't see what was going on past the foggy barrier and couldn't hear what anybody was saying.

I waited patiently, if it was possible, until something happened. A patch of fog seemed to fade away slowly, revealing a view to the other side. Slowly but surely the entire barrier began to become transparent. As a spot before my eyes faded away I made out the shapes of five figures. One was laying on the ground, one by side and the other three standing off to the side, watching.

As the barrier became more and more transparent, I realized that the figure on the floor was Axel. I stopped breathing as it suddenly dawned on me that something was definitely wrong.

I waited, almost jumping with fear until the barrier disappeared. Axel had summoned a portal with a lot of effort, I could tell. As soon as the barrier cleared I pushed against it and it broke. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me towards him.

As I ran closer I noticed that little black specks were slowing floating upward from Axel's body. If I had a heart, it would have stopped beating at that moment. Ferocious tears began to build up behind my eyes I as I tried to fun faster. "AXEL!" I yelled.

No one had seemed to notice I was there until I screamed. Axel turned his head, resting his cheek on the ground. At first he looked confused to see me there. He reached his hand out, hovering it over the ground, as if he were reaching out to something about to disappear. Then he smiled as he mouthed my name. I quickly slowed to a stop, kneeled and reached my arms out to pull him into my arms. But as soon as my fingers were about to graze his cloak, he vanished in a mix of blackness and flames.

I didn't move for several minutes. My hands fell to my sides and I closed my eyes holding in the tears. I tried to slow my breathing and think about something else—anything that would keep my mind off _him_. Nothing worked. Every time my mind rested on something else, _his_ face appeared behind my closed eyelids.

I attempted to remain calm as long as possible. _He wasn't gone. He was right there next to me; he'd always be there by my side._ A hand landed softly on my shoulder. My hopes lifted for a second, that is, until I noticed it was the finger-cutoff glove of Sora's hand. And with that, my hope faded away along with my best friend.

A whimper sounded from deep inside myself and the hand squeezed slightly on my shoulder. I shuddered as the realization came crashing down on me like a thousand friends' deaths. A pathetic sob escaped my lips as I let the tears begin to fall from my dark sapphire eyes.

Sora's lips appeared next to my ear. "It's okay…" he said.

I pushed his hand off my shoulder and turned from him. Axel…my best friend…my last friend…was gone forever and I never got to say good-bye. I didn't even get to touch him one last time. No more hugs, no more smiles, no more late nights of sitting and talking, no more memories to reflect upon with him. My life, as I knew it was over. I wanted to die right then. I didn't want to fight anymore; I didn't want to move, I just wanted Kairi to appear here, take all of my Light and let it be done.

**-----------------------------**

**Ok guys, a friend cough (Akito) cough said that I should leave it here. I was having a debate whether I should continue on but, alas it ends with a cliffhanger. Well, not a big one. He's dead…sadly…but that's that. Next chapter will have that mysterious letter from Axel in it and the return to The World That Never Was. (false yay) That only means more death…god I hate killing people…sorry for my babbling. Hope you enjoyed this one. Review please, I miss some of your reviews people. Thanks to you who review every chapter, it makes my day. I've made a goal that I'm gonna have a fanart of Raene done by the end of this story. (I think it'll have that music box from Axel in it) oh and I'm gonna have a chapter at the end that's completely credits—thanks to people, fanfic soundtrack, fanart links, reasons for like everything in the story. Hope you guys will read that too, but we don't have to worry about that for a while. Thanks again for reading. **

**Sarah**


	32. The Letter

Hey everybody! School has started again and it's a long weekend so I decided to take a break from the horrors of the enormous homework piles of sophomore year and update. Here it is, enjoy!

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It was quiet. Just the way I wanted it. With the silence I could pretend I was anywhere, not here where my friend had just taken his last breath. I closed my eyes and pictured myself being anywhere but here.

Memories flashed through my mind. They seemed almost too real to be just a memory. I actually felt like I was a little kid again. At first I was as young as I could remember, barely able to talk. My father was sitting on his throne, in his best robes, sitting up straight. Kairi and I were on either side of him, in beautiful, hand-knitted dresses that flowed behind us. We were posing for a portrait that was supposed to go in the main hall of the castle.

The memory flashed away almost as fast as it appeared and was replaced by another. It was my fifth birthday. Kairi and I were in beautifully matching sundresses, our long hair pulled back into elaborate styles. Everyone from the main kingdom was there. In the main street they had laid out a long carpet down the cobblestones. At the end were two miniature thrones, but Kairi and I weren't sitting in them. We were standing in front of all the people who had come to wish their princesses a happy birthday. Pedals, all white, purple, and pink, were blowing by in the wind, some landing in our hair.

That memory flashed by too and a different one came to my mind. I smiled as I recognized my first day in the Organization's castle. I remembered how sad and scared I had been at first, but the second I ran into _him_, all my fears went away. His smile warmed my insides and I forgot what had happened just before that moment.

Other memories of my childhood flashed by. Larxene and I getting into a fight while Marluxia and Zexion tried to pull us apart. Naminé and I exchanging secrets while Roxas and Axel sat across the room watching us. There had never been that awkward stage where any of us were nervous or embarrassed around each other. That's one of the things I loved so much about my childhood.

The day when Axel returned from Castle Oblivion followed my childhood memories. I remembered how that moment had been so happy at first. I had jumped on him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He lifted me off the ground and spun me around. After putting me down, he and Roxas joined in a brotherly hug. It was all smiles among the other members as well, until Roxas asked about Naminé. Axel's smile disappeared and he looked at the ground. Roxas and I stared at him, confused. "Axel, where is she?" I asked. He just shook his head, not meeting my eyes. Demyx then asked about Larxene and the others. Axel again just shook his head. It wasn't until later that we got the truth out of him. Naminé had disappeared according to Axel and the others fell victim to Sora and his friends.

Roxas left soon after that and everything went downhill for a while. Axel barely spoke to me for months. I tried to push those depressing memories out of my mind and replace them with happy ones. But sadly, there weren't many happy ones since Axel came back. Friends were separated, killed, and nothing seemed like it could be happy again.

I opened my eyes and wiped away the last of my tears. "Raene," Sora said from next to me.

"Yes?" I asked slowly turning to him. He was holding a scroll tied with a red ribbon.

"Axel wanted me to give this to you," he said. I grabbed it from him and stared at it for several seconds. "He also…" I looked up as he paused. "He wanted me to tell you something…" he said.

"…Yes?" I asked not meeting his eyes. I turned back, only keeping them locked on the ribbon.

"Well, he wanted me to tell you that he's sorry for hurting Kairi and everything else," he spoke quietly. I looked up slowly trying to focus on his eyes without crying. "He told me you'd understand what that meant." I nodded, looking down quickly but looking back up as he continued to talk. "He said that…that you meant everything to him…"

I pressed my lips together and closed my eyes. I knew that trying to talk when you're on the verge of tears would only make you cry more, so I tried desperately not to answer him. 

"He told me to tell you that…that…" he stopped, unsure of how to say it.

I tried to show with my eyes that I wanted him to continue.

"…that all the feelings I have for Kairi are what he has for you…"

I raised my eyebrows as if saying, 'what?'

"He said that he would give up his heart to darkness in order to save you and that he'd travel the universe, fighting everything in his way, away from his loved ones just to save you…"

"That's what you did, just to save Kairi," I said smiling, forgetting my silent vow not to speak.

He nodded. "I just know that he said that all the feelings I have for Kairi are the ones he had for you, Raene. I'm not sure exactly what that means."

"Nor do I…" I said looking back down at the scroll in my hand. "Maybe this'll explain." I slowly pulled one end of the ribbon and the scroll unrolled in my hand. I relaxed my position before casting my eyes to the beginning of the letter.

_Raene,_

_I'm not sure how to put any of this in terms that sound right. "I'm sorry," seems to be the only thing that fits. I'm sorry for everything that I've done in these past nine years. Anything at all that might have upset you or hurt you in anyway. You know I never meant to. One thing I'm know I did truly wrong was coming home after several months without half our family. I sent five of our own to their deaths, and caused two to leave, and I know how much it must have hurt to see me come home without them by my side. _

_I'm sorry for all the fights I ever picked with you. I'm sorry for my constant mood swings, I bet the got annoying—one moment I'd be happy, the next angry…and it was always at you…well not really AT you—but I got angry a lot when I was around you. I never figured out why that was. Maybe it was just something in you that jump-started emotions I wasn't used to holding._

_I want you to know that I never meant to hurt Kairi. I've said it so many times but I feel that the only way you can really understand is if you read my thoughts on paper. I just didn't want to lose you. I believed that you deserved a real life and not one of a Nobody. You say that you got this life because it was your destiny to fade to Darkness and that was decided at birth…but I just always thought that you weren't supposed to become one of us. You never chose this path, and I believe people get to choose their own fate. Every Nobody, including Roxas and Naminé, chose to, in one way or another. You were forced and I never thought it was fair. But, I never regret that Saïx brought you here that day all those years ago. I would have never got to meet you and then my 'not' life wouldn't be complete. Man, that sounds gushy, doesn't it? But you understand, don't you? I just couldn't sit there and not at least try to give you a second chance at a normal life. _

_But now that I know what is about to happen in these next few hours, I want you to do me a huge favor. Will you do that for me? I may not want you to lead the life of a Nobody, but I just can't wait to see you again. Yes, I knew that this moment would come. When I was in the library looking for evidence of the prophecies, I found the ones of the Organization's defeat. I read them just a few hours before now. I knew how I was going to go, and I knew I had to leave you with something that explained and apologized for everything. About that favor, I want you to do your best in helping Sora, okay? You fight now matter what and be sure that you tell Kairi the truth. I know you said that you feel it's unfair to drop it all on her, but I think it's the right thing to do. She deserves to know the truth even if she isn't aware that there is a truth to it all. You make sure you get to her before the end and you let her know who you are. Just do that for me will you? _

_Then the biggest favor ever… make it to the next life, Raene. I want you to be able to have a second life. As I'm writing this, I still don't know if Nobodies even go to another place. It's not that I don't want to see you, never think that for ONE second. I just want you, since I know you'll disappear, to go to a heaven. Let's say that there is a place that I am now, I want you to go there too, so I can see you once more. _

_Raene, I don't know what's wrong with me. I've always had this weird feeling, one I didn't recognize until I started remembering things about Amaya, the girl from my past life. I knew that I had this feeling since the day I met you. It makes me feel strange on the inside, like I can't be myself around you, even though I always do. I love you, Raene. At least I think I do. From what I know, love is the feeling you have when you know you can tell someone anything. The feeling where you know you'd fight for someone…die for someone. I'd do that for you, Raene. I think that's what this feeling is. Love… I can't ever tell if it's just a big brotherly protection with you or more. I don't have a heart, so I don't really know, right? I feel like I have to always protect you, like you can't take care of yourself or something. I only hope that this makes at least a bit of sense to you. I love you, Raene, and I never want to lose you, not again. I couldn't save Amaya. I think you are her reincarnation or something, and I want to be able to keep you safe from this moment on. Sadly, there are still a few hours before I can see you again. _

_Help Sora, talk to Kairi, and meet me in the next life, wherever that is. I don't care what else you do. When you get here, we'll look for Roxas and Naminé together, okay? I have to go though; it's time for me to serve in this war. Know that even though I'm gone, I'm still with you. See you in the next life, Raene…Goodbye…until we meet again._

_Love always, _

_Axel_

I stared at the words, quickly but elegantly written on the crackling paper. I tried to sort through the feelings I had left in the small bit of Light left in my heart. It seemed that all the feelings possible were swarming through at incredible speeds, all except one. Sadness didn't seem to be present. I began to think that I had used up all of the sadness I could feel.

One feeling was bubbling up more than others. Confusion. I didn't know how to react to the letter. How did I feel about his feelings? Did I love him back? Well, of course I did, but in the same way? I wasn't sure. I didn't get to ponder much on the confusion and try to sort out my reactions. Suddenly, a few words in the middle of the letter disappeared. I stared at first in curiosity. What was happening? Then many words began to fade away, into the paper it seemed. My eyes widened in utter fear. _No…_ Quicker and quicker the words disappeared out of sight. "No!" I whispered harshly to myself. "No! Don't go! Please…please don't go…" The words continued to fade as the sadness finally returned. Everything was going wrong again. All of what Axel had worked so hard to explain to me was now leaving me, like everything else in this world. Pretty soon the only words left on the paper were _Love always, Axel_ at the bottom. I held my breath in horror as I awaited the dreaded moment when his name would too fade off the paper.

And eventually, after what seemed like forever, those last three words left the paper empty. Sadness overwhelmed me; I thought it had all been used up. "No…" I whispered to myself. "No…please don't go," I told the words. "Please come back…don't leave me along again…"

Anger soon drowned out the sadness. I placed both hands on the top of the scroll, gripping my hands into tight fists, about to rip it in two, when suddenly the letter _C_ slowly came into view on the faded paper. I loosened my grip and returned my hands loosely to the sides of the paper. Flowing script quickly streamed itself across the paper. The handwriting wasn't familiar but I felt this strange connection to it.

When words stopped appearing, I read it slowly to myself.

_Could you have only known the fullness of my heart, _

_But death was swift, and death was cruel; we thus were torn apart,_

_And only now I know the truth in what I say,_

_The joy you brought into my life was like the light of day._

I knew it wasn't his handwriting, and I knew that Axel couldn't himself write anything so poetic, but for some reason, the words seemed to speak that they were written by him, or someone, some_thing_ related to him. A spirit? His past life? I wasn't completely sure but I knew that Axel had something to do with these few words.

"Raene?" I heard Sora say. His soft voice seemed so far away as I sat in my own dream world.

"Hmmm?" I answered slowly taking my eyes off the letter to look at him.

He was looking at the letter, pondering on what he had seen occur over my shoulder. "You ready to go?" he asked glancing up.

I took a deep breath. I slowly rolled the letter up, retied it with the ribbon, and placed it in a pocket on the inside of my cloak. I nodded and stood up. "Yeah. Let's go," I replied flashing him a smile.

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**Ok guys. Sorry for the wait. Hope this was a good chapter. I worked on it for a while. I tried to make the letter depressing but not TOO gushy lovey and stuff. The words that appeared after the original letter faded away are the translations for a song I found in a music book one time. I'm trying to find it for copyright reasons. Don't rush me, it's hard to find stuff on the web these days. Anyhow, like you didn't see that coming right, Axel liking Raene a bit more than normal. I really tried to make this story so far very non-mary-sue-ish. I was originally gonna have Demyx have a thing for her too, heehee and before he fought Sora in Hollow Bastion we was kinda gonna let it slip and then get angry because she only paid attention to Axel. But I was talked out of that idea by my better self. Ok, so a few more chapters left. Review please, I've been getting less hits lately, partially my fault for slow update I guess. :)**

**Sarah**


	33. The Beginng of the End

I'm so sorry for the wait, everybody! I had no motivation for a while but it's back, so yay! I want you guys to ask me any questions you might have about the story that I can answer in my little credit chapter I'm putting at the end. Anything you want to know, and I'll try to answer it. Ok, enough talking, here you guys go…

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Sora and I walked through the portal that Axel had left us. We came into a dark alley somewhere in the city. King Mickey rounded around the corner ahead of us first and stared in awe up at the sky. Sora and I followed with Donald and Goofy at our heels.

Up ahead the alley opened up revealing the skyscraper buildings, dazzled by blinking neon lights. Hundreds of feet above our heads, was the large white castle, rotating in front of its moon. It wasn't raining like it usually was. In fact, the dark sky was relatively clear, minus a few wispy clouds here and there.

"The castle dungeon?" Sora asked, his big blue eyes moving from the castle to me.

I nodded. "Let's go." I ran out of the alley and out to the open street. The others followed me as I lead them down the dark roads. Several heartless appeared and we all summoned our weapon. I summoned my white one and began to slice away at the monsters. They seemed to regenerate as one was destroyed, so we ran off, in a hurry to get to the castle.

"Guys, I think we're lost," I said.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"I've never been to this part of the city before," I replied. "It's so close but I just don't recognize these streets." Suddenly the street opened up to a large area surrounded on all sides by towering buildings. "Yep. Definitely never been here," I said looking up at the largest building in front of us.

"Can't you just teleport us there or something?" Sora asked looking up too.

"Not anymore. It takes too much energy for me. I'm not able to do things like that anymore. Not to mention Xemnas is controlling them a great deal. It's too risky, he could trap us halfway through like he did to me."

The large tower we were staring at seemed so familiar. "It feels like I've been here before. This place holds some importance, I know," Sora said, his eyes mesmerized by the colorful screens on the face of the skyscraper.

A memory suddenly came to my mind. But I didn't recognize it, so I knew it was someone else's.

A boy was walking down a street. His cloak was pulled over his head, hiding his face. He came to a large square in the city where a tall, elegant building dominated the area. Large heartless formed from the shadows on the ground and surrounded him. The boy summoned two keyblades, a black one and a white one. He was an amazing fighter. He held his ground against hundreds of the enemy.

There was another cloaked boy standing on top of the tall building. His silver hair blew in front of his blindfolded eyes as the rain began to fall down on the dark city. The cloaked boy on the ground jumped over to the foot of the building. Without thinking, he jumped on the wall and began to run up its side. Heartless followed him, but he sliced through them as they came into range.

When he was just reaching the large screens on the skyscraper, one picturing the face of a baby-faced cranberry-haired girl, he tossed one keyblade into the sky above him. At that moment, the silver-haired boy jumped off the top and hurtled toward the ground, catching the tossed keyblade on his way down.

Once on the ground, the two teenagers engaged in battle. The blindfolded one lost but gained amazing power and returned finish the fight. The hooded boy fell and didn't wake up.

I began to ponder on whose mind I had just entered. The two boys I recognized as Roxas and Riku. I knew this story; Naminé had told me shortly after Roxas entered the fake Twilight Town. I had never truly seen it though. So who did I just see this memory through?

I was pulled from my thoughts as Nobodies suddenly appeared, trapping Donald and Goofy from the two of us. Sora and I summoned each a keyblade and took our fighting stance. A sound came from behind us and we turned around to see a portal opening up.

A cloaked figure came out, his body language suggested that he was strong and that he knew it. He was about Sora's height, his hood hid his face and hair, but I could tell by his baggy pants, thin figure, and slight slouch that his boy was the Organization's thirteenth member.

I tried to say his name but my lips didn't seem to move. Roxas summoned his Oblivion keyblade and threw himself and Sora, who was obviously shocked to see another keyblade wielder.

Roxas was stronger than Sora. He pushed his weight down against him, weakening Sora's ability to keep his ground. Suddenly, Sora and Roxas both vanished and the city street disappeared from my sight. I found myself floating. Below me was a large, circular stained-glass panel. The panel had pictures of Sora, Riku, Kairi, and others on it.

Roxas and Sora were flinging themselves at each other below me. They danced in a majestic battle across the panel. They both shouted words of anger and confusion at each other. I noticed someone's presence next to me. "Hello, Naminé," I said, not being able to add emotion to my words. She and I both didn't face each other.

"Hello, Raene," she replied, watching as the two continued to fight.

"Where did you go?" I asked. It was the first question I had. More than anything, I wanted to know where she had been since she disappeared.

"Wandering the Darkness," she said. Her voice was as angelic as it was the day I met her. It was soft and soothing. She didn't seem to be anything but happy. I turned to her to see if her face was revealing how she was really feeling. Her thin lips were in a small smile; she was good at hiding her emotions. "Roxas and I have been wandering the Darkness, trying to find our way back," she said.

"I don't understand," I answered.

"Roxas didn't truly disappear. He simply had to leave his temporary existence so that Sora could wake up. The same I guess you could say happened to me. Roxas and I didn't join with Sora and Kairi. We simply were sent to the dark realm with no way out."

"How'd you get out?"

"Not quite sure…" she said keeping her eyes on the battle below. I let it drop for a while and watched too. Several minutes later she spoke again. "So…what's new?"

I looked at her once more. I didn't know if she somehow knew about Axel. I didn't want to be the one to tell if she didn't; I'd probably fall apart. "Naminé…" I started to say, not looking at her profile.

A sudden sob hit my ears and I looked at Naminé. She had quickly shut her eyes, but it was too late; the tears had already escaped. Her lip was quivering quickly. She inhaled deeply, making an odd gasping sound as she opened her eyes and tried not to cry anymore. "Naminé…" I said. _Why was she suddenly crying? Did she already know?  
_

"Why?!" she cried, falling to her knees. "Why?! Why did you leave us?" I knew then that she must have found out.

I knelt by her side and put my arm around her shoulder. "Oh, Naminé…" I said. I was very different to see Naminé in tears. She was the strongest of us all, the mother of the group, the one to comfort us; it was difficult to be in each other's shoes.

"I never was angry with him for what he did. I understood that he treated me like a prisoner in Castle Oblivion to protect all of us. How could he leave us?" She sobbed into my shoulder.

I looked at Roxas. He seemed so different since the last time I saw him. He had changed, but into what? "He would never leave to hurt us, Naminé. Axel loved us more than anything and he wants to see us again soon," I said stroking her soft cornflower hair.

"He does?" she asked lifting her head up to look at me.

Her eyes were red from crying and a tear was hanging on the end of her nose. I nodded. "He told me so. He said we have to find Kairi and join with her so we can all be together again."

"The way things used to be—the way they should be…" she said.

"Exactly." I stood up and grabbed her hand to help her up too. "Roxas has changed, hasn't he?" I asked.

"When we both first disappeared into the Darkness, I was alone. I was alone for so long—but I just kept walking. Every once and again I would call out his name, for an hour or so then I would just hum to myself, hoping that he'd hear me. I lost track of time more quickly than I expected. I never slept, I just kept walking…"

I couldn't imagine being alone like that. I wasn't scared of the dark but being alone, with no one there to comfort you, that was my biggest fear.

"Eventually, I heard someone say my name back to me. 'Roxas,' I called. We followed each other's voices until we met. I could see nothing, but he was next to me, and I felt so much better." She paused and sighed. "At first I thought he was just the Roxas from Twilight Town, and that I couldn't be myself around him. I acted composed and tried to accept that he wasn't the old Roxas I grew up with. But then, one day, I don't know how long ago, he mentioned the time when we were ten and Axel's voice started changing. Remember? Roxas said he sounded like Demyx playing his sitar."

I laughed slightly. I remembered it like it was yesterday.

"I then asked him if he remembered growing up in the castle. He said yes but he also remembered the year he spent in Twilight Town."

"How is that possible, his memory was swiped?" I asked.

"I was confused, too," Naminé answered. "I'm still not sure how it's possible but I think I've figured out who he is."

"Who he is?" I asked looking at Roxas.

"He's very much the old Roxas," Naminé said. "He remembers everything from his life in the Organization. And he acts just like that old Roxas too." She paused for a minute. "He still is the determined, trouble-making kid we grew up with, but he's also the kind, shy boy from Twilight Town."

"How can he be both? There are so many things that make the old and new Roxas complete opposites," I said.

"I think the old one has the dominance in Roxas," Naminé replied. "Just look. Roxas hates Sora, just as he did when he learned of him. He hates that he's the one who's to disappear. He wants Sora to take his place." I nodded. "The Roxas from Twilight Town accepted his fate, while the old one tried to fight it; just as he's doing now."

"So he hates Sora and wants to kill him?" I said. _How could he do that? Doesn't he understand what he learned in Twilight Town…what we told him about his fate…how he just has to accept it like the rest of us?_ "Why doesn't he get that Sora is the Keybearer and that he is just his Nobody?" I asked slightly angered. "Sora was the chosen one first!"

"That's just it," she said. I looked at her. "Sora was_ supposed_ to be the Keybearer first, but he wasn't. Because of what the founders did, Roxas was _born_ fourteen years before he should have. Roxas was able to call upon the keyblade at a very young age. Sora didn't first get to till he was fourteen. In Roxas's mind, he was it first, not Sora. He thinks, because of that, that he shouldn't be the one to disappear."

"Roxas…" I said softly to myself.

"But there is one good reason why Roxas could never be the true chosen one; he doesn't have the heart to understand his duty," Naminé said.

Just then Roxas knocked Sora's only keyblade out of his hand and trapped in with his own. It seemed as if Sora was a goner but then he reached his hand out and the keyblade appeared back in his hand. Roxas, shocked, didn't see it coming. Sora stood to his fullest height and swung his keyblade at his other. Roxas stumbled away from Sora, his hood falling off to reveal his face. "You make a good other," he said.

Our surroundings blurred and eventually changed back into the dark city square. Sora stood confused looking by Donald and Goofy. They began to talk. I was in the shadow of one of the buildings. Naminé was beside me. A portal opened suddenly and Roxas stepped forward. I gasped.

"Don't worry. Sora and the others can't see us," Naminé said smiling.

"Roxas!" I yelled jumping in his arms. Now that I knew this was at least partially the old Roxas, I couldn't control myself. I began to cry into his shoulder. I wasn't sure where these emotions were suddenly appearing from but I didn't care—Roxas was back, he was finally back!

He patted my back for a few moments. "I missed you Raene," he said when I pulled away. I just smiled back.

Naminé stood next to us. She grabbed both of our hands and smiled. "Raene, you know what you have to do, but I suppose I can help before it's too late," she said. I nodded. "Roxas has to go for now, I think," she said looking at him. He nodded, no expression on his face. "Tell Sora you will see him in a few minutes," she said tome. "Say that you found a way for only you to go into the castle and that you're going to make it easier for him to reach Kairi, okay? He'll be okay with it."

"Okay," I said. I turned to Roxas but he was gone. I was sad but held myself strong. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"We're going to get Kairi out of the dungeon, now might be our only chance. Saïx is guarding that place with is berserker Nobodies, so we'll have to be careful. You in?" She asked.

I nodded and ran to tell Sora that I'll be back. He seemed unsure at first; as if he couldn't trust me, but soon he agreed and said, "Okay. See you in a few."

I disappeared into the shadows where Naminé stood invisible to Sora and the others. "Why can't they see you?" I asked, gesturing to said people.

"In time he will. I'm beginning to fade away," she said. I looked at her more closely. It was true. She appeared to be slightly transparent. And her figure shifted from fine to blurry over and over again as if she were a disturbed hologram. "It appears that you are too," she continued. I looked down. What she had said was true. I was just as she was, slowly fading out of our nonexistence. I held my hand up to my face. Through it I could see Naminé with a sad smile on her face. "Come on. Let's go!" She said. I nodded and grabbed her hand in mine. She opened a portal with her free hand, and the two of us stepped in.

**-----------------------------------**

**Like I said, guys…I'm so sorry for this delay. I hope I haven't lost any fans because of it. I'm not quitting, I'm still here. I've just been super busy. Alright. Hope you enjoyed this. Remember to ask me questions, k? Thanks again**

**Sarah**


	34. The Rescue Mission

Sorry once again everybody

Sorry once again everybody! I know it's beginning to sound a bit repetitive. I've just been so busy lately. Just know I'm here and I'm going to finish this up, I'm not leaving! Hope you like this chapter, those who are left.

**--**

"You sure we'll be okay traveling by portal?" I asked Naminé as we walked into the black mist.

"I'm sure for now. Our big concern is not being caught once we rescue Kairi. When we get her out, we shouldn't use the portals; we'll just have to be careful not to run into Saïx. We could be in big trouble if he catches us," she replied.

"And if we do get caught…what does trouble mean for us?" I asked.

"Not quite sure," she answered. "I've got some backup, though. Hopefully, if we _do_ get caught, he'll be there to help us." I was about to ask who she was talking about, but before I could get a word out she whispered excitedly, "This is it!"

She held up her hand and a portal appeared. A pinkish purple light crept in from the other side, and the sound of a dog barking reached my ears. It opened up completely. Kairi was standing by the cell bars. She looked surprised, but also very confused.

I was standing a half step behind Naminé, who was almost outside the portal herself. "This way!" she called to Kairi. Kairi looked unsure. I stepped forward so she could better see me.

"Trust her, Kairi," I kindly ordered. She took a deep breath and gracefully strode over to us. Naminé and I both reached a hand out to her. She hesitated at first. I could have sworn she was staring at the heart necklace around my neck (it was visible given that I was no longer wearing my cloak). She eventually grasped both of our hands in hers. When her hand entered mine, what felt like a spark jumped up my arm. I glanced down at my own skin, it was more transparent then it had been two minutes ago. I sighed.

We ran quickly, all in a row, Kairi in the middle, down the staircases of the castle. Pluto, King Mickey's dog, followed closely behind us. "How is Sora going to get into the castle? We were on the wrong side of the entrance when we were back in the city," I said to Naminé. Kairi was too busy to notice.

"It's true. Xemnas destroyed the main entrance a while ago," she said. I had no idea that he had done that. "If he follows the main street he'll arrive at the edge of the pit below the castle. He can use his keyblade to activate a bridge like the one at the main entrance. It will lead him up into Xemnas's part of the castle."

I nodded. Naminé was leading us to somewhere in the castle. I thought that we should be more cautious as we ran down the stairs—what if someone found us? We should be more careful. I pushed the thought away as the silhouette of a tower appeared above us as we rounded another corner. I looked up and stared at large moon behind it. My eyes then jumped around to the thousands of stars thrown across the black sky. I wondered if I would ever see daylight again.

I was ripped from my thoughts as Kairi's hand tore from mine. I screeched to a halt and moved my eyes from the stars back to Kairi. She was a few feet behind me, farther up the stairs. She was looking at Naminé who stood even farther behind her. Naminé's face held a mixture of anger and utter horror, her eyes fixed on something behind me. Kairi followed her gaze. I watched as her eyes too widened with fear. I slowly turned around.

The second my eyes saw his yellow ones I jumped backwards. I landed in front of Kairi and stretched my arms out on either side, guarding my two others behind me. I heard Naminé take a few steps forward and position herself between Kairi and myself. "We'll protect you, Kairi," she whispered.

"There you are, Naminé!" Saïx said. "I've been looking for you."

"Naminé?" Kairi said. I glanced over my shoulder. Naminé's figure was very shaky. Rarely did she become completely non-transparent. She was fading quickly.

"And you too, Raene?" he said. As I turned my head back I glanced at my arm. It wasn't as transparent as Naminé's but it was close.

"Raene?" Kairi whispered. This was her first time hearing our names.

"Don't worry…" I said back.

"Well, after our talk, I'm a bit surprised to learn of your treachery," he said to me.

"What's surprising about it? Why would I help monsters like you and Xemnas instead of my sis…" I paused. "…instead of my friends?" I had almost given away my identity.

Saïx ignored me and held out his hand. "Come with me, Kairi, I'll take you to see Sora," he said. After a brief moment of silence, he continued. "Is that a 'no,' then?"

"No. Of course I want to see him…but not with you!" she said. I summoned my keyblades and got into a fighting stance. "Raene?" Kairi said again, surprised by the familiar weapons, "When are you going to explain all of this?"

"Soon," I replied.

There was a slicing sound. Saïx turned around just in time to see one of his berserker Nobodies stumble, fall to the ground, and disappear. Still holding his keyblade, was a tall, cloaked figure. I smiled. Hopefully, he'd forgive me for what I said to him last time we saw each other._ So get lost, Riku!_ _We once could have been friends, but now, that relationship is over. Leave!_ Those words echoed in my head.

Saïx looked confused by Riku's presence. "Didn't Roxas finish you?" he asked.

I summoned away my keyblades and stood up relaxed. I could feel Naminé and Kairi relax behind me too. We all lined up again, Kairi in the middle. "You can take it from here, Riku," Naminé said. By her words, I knew we were about to separate again.

"Riku?" Kairi repeated, confused. Riku's keyblade disappeared from his hand and in its place was a glowing ball of light. He threw at Saïx who jumped back, avoiding most of its blow. As he flipped and landed, Riku ran at him and pinned him against the castle wall. Saïx grinned at the hooded figure. He kept his hand low and summoned a portal. He melted into it.

I looked at my side as Kairi ran down to Riku. Naminé was no longer there. I looked around but she was nowhere to be seen. I prayed that I would be able to see her again. I became reassured as I remembered that we would have to unite with Kairi, and I knew that time hadn't come yet. I still had time.

"Don't go!" I heard a voice say. It sounded so familiar—like I was hearing myself. I had said those same words to people so many times. I looked at Kairi. Riku was standing near the portal that was quickly closing up. Pluto ran up to him and wagged his tail. He must have recognized him.

"Riku…" Kairi said walking slowly up to him. "Is it really you?" she said. She stood up on her tiptoes and pulled back his hood. The look on his face almost made me want to cry. He looked completely ashamed of himself. I could only imagine how he felt. He had once loved Kairi, didn't he? He turned to the darkness for her…and look what that did to him.

Kairi asked no questions, though. She stared at him, but it didn't seem rude. She looked at me as I walked up to them. Riku nodded at me and I nodded back. "I'm holding you to your promise, Raene. You'll explain _everything_," she said pointing at the crystal heart around my neck. I smiled.

"Riku, could you take us to Sora? I can't summon a portal," I said. He smiled and did so. We stepped though and appeared on a platform in a very tall room. The ceiling was see-through. I could see Kingdom Hearts. From here it looked bigger and brighter than ever. It must be complete. _Did the Organization get all the hearts they needed?_

Below us were hundreds of heartless and Nobodies of all shapes and sizes. Holes leading into the darkness lined the walls. I stumbled. Something heavy was weighing down on me. Being so close to this amount of darkness was having some effect on me. Riku grabbed my arm to held me steady.

I looked down at the monsters and in the middle saw Sora, Donald, and Goofy with their weapons at the ready. "Sora!" Kairi called down to him. He looked up and smiled; you could see his goofy grin from way up here. He called her name. The two of us waved crazily.

"See, Sora! I told you I'd get her for you!" I yelled. Suddenly, a group of shadow heartless pounced on him. Kairi frowned and jogged back a few yards. I watched as she dashed forward and leaped off the edge. "Kairi!" I yelled trying to grab her.

I looked down. She landed perfectly on the ledge below us. More heartless appeared and jumped on her, pinning her to the ground. She groaned. Riku and I jumped down and knocked them off her. Riku helped her up and I looked around as more of the enemy began to encircle us. "Riku…" I warned.

He summoned a keyblade, one I'd never seen before. It was all colors of the rainbow and appeared very floral. He handed it over to Kairi who grasped it in her hand. She smiled. "You and Sora protected me before. This time, I'LL fight," she said. She looked very excited to be given the opportunity to fight for Sora this time. "Let's go!" she called as she ran forward slicing at heartless and throwing them in the air. Riku and I each summoned a keyblade and joined her in battle.

I felt weak as I fought the creatures. I couldn't swing my keyblade as fast as I could in the past. I couldn't dodge attacks as easily. When a small group of heartless all attacked me at once I was pushed off the edge and landed with a thud far below Kairi and Riku.

"Raene!" Sora yelled. I opened my eyes and looked in the direction of the voice. A blur with brown spikes ran over to me and lifted me up. "You okay?" he asked. I rubbed my head and looked up at the others. They must have noticed my fall but didn't have time to stop their fighting.

PING! The sound echoed through the room. The others and I looked to our left and watched as a red crystal stuck in the ground exploded. Suddenly the room was filled with hundreds of the red crystals. They rained down from high above and hit the heartless and Nobodies all around us.

When all the enemies on our level were gone and all the crystals disappeared, we waited and listened. "How's our little hero?" called a voice. My eyes widened. When I heard his laid-back, surfer-sounding voice, I shuddered. I had told Sora when we were back in the mansion that I would be okay with him fighting the one loyal member left that I liked…but now I was completely regretting telling him that.

**--**

Once again sorry guys. Please don't hate me. Thank you to all those new people who have starting reading the story and to all my usuals. You all make me feel so great. Remember to ask questions, guys. I want to put something like a Q/A in the last credits chapter. Thanks for reading, everybody!

**Love, Sarah**


	35. Together Again

Hello everyone

Hello everyone!! I'm back from my trip to Italy so I can start on my next chapter. Sorry for the wait, you know I don't mean it.

**--**

Xigbar, second in command (or was supposed to be) of the Organization, was standing on the ledge opposite the room of Kairi and Riku. He had always been loyal to Xemnas and done everything that was asked of him. And even though he never once had any treacherous thoughts like so many of us—like me, I still liked him. I was becoming very scared. Sora was going to kill him, and I didn't want him to. Xigbar had told me that he knew we couldn't win this fight and he was willing to accept it. He was going to fight Sora like a loyal member should and accept his fate. I didn't want him to though. He was the last one who understood that we wouldn't be whole—the last one of those who were left.

"Sora!" I whispered.

He looked down at me. "Yes?"

"Don't fight him," I said. I knew I sounded stupid to even say something like that but my bonds with others was taking ahold of my better judgment. Sora just looked at me like I was crazy. "I know I said it was okay that you did, but…" I started. "…I…I can't let you do this to him."

"You're just confused, Raene. I understand you don't want this to happen, but remember, we _have _to do this," he said.

"No. No. No," I repeated. "You can't!" I grabbed his wrist as he began to stand up. His face contorted as I started squeezing with all my might.

"Raene…" he warned, "I have to do this." And he pulled away.

"No!" I yelled jumping up and summoning my keyblade. "Please!"

He turned and looked at me. I knew he was thinking I wasn't myself, and it was true. "Rae!" called a voice. We all looked up at the Freeshooter. "It's okay, this is between me and the Keyblade's chosen one."

"No…" I whispered softly, more to myself than anyone else. I needed to snap out of it, but one silly emotion wouldn't let go of me.

"It's okay, Rae. Watch the show," he said and snapped his gloved fingers. I small force field hit me and pushed me backwards. I knew he was just bluffing by saying 'watch the show' but still I became enraged and tried to beat my way through the invisible barrier.

At this point Xigbar ignored me and turned his attention to Sora and his friends. King Mickey was gone so it was just the usual trio. "Get down here!" Sora yelled up.

"My, my, Sora…where are your manners?" the Nobody said shaking his head side-to-side. "I thought we taught you to respect your superiors, Roxas."

"Did he just call me 'Roxas'?" Sora asked Donald. The duck nodded. Sora raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"You've really hampered Organization XIII's plans, you know?" Sora looked back at Xigbar. "I guess your _success_ so far is the reason why it chose you. But exactly _why_, I'm not sure. There are so many others who could do a better job than you. If you were half the hero those before you were, you might have defeated the whole Organization a year ago…when you first encountered the Nobodies. You could have gone right through those traitors to our stronghold and finished us then. But heh…no one's perfect, huh kid?"

Sora obviously didn't know what he was referring to but he didn't care at this point. "Man, do you ever stop talking?" Sora asked.

Xigbar smirked. "Smart elic," he said under his breath. "Just get this through your thick head, traitor… YOU END HERE!" He said.

Sora smirked and summoned a keyblade. Donald and Goofy got out there weapons and got in position. Xigbar summoned his two quick-shot snipers and jumped down. He landed gracefully. He was ready for the fight and Sora was not. He and his friends didn't know what to expect from the master of space. He could float, walk upside-down, and change the battleground to his liking.

I held my breath and didn't let it go until the fight was over.

--

His gloved hand held the gun pointed between Sora's eyes. It began to shake—he couldn't fight anymore. He fell, just barely catching his balance with his other hand. He snickered quietly to himself as he dropped his gun. I looked down at the ground knowing what was about to happen.

"Rae?" He said. I looked up. Sora glanced back and forth between the two of us. "Sorry for everything that's happened to you." His figure began to blur and small black flecks started floating up and away from us.

"Wait!" Sora called. "Why…why did you call me Roxas?"

Xigbar snickered again. "That's the million dollar question, isn't it?" he said. Sora just glared at him. "Rae, you haven't told him yet?" Sora looked at me. Xigbar disappeared from view, his cackling laugh fading away with him. Sora yelled telling him to wait, but it was too late.

Tears began to swell behind my eyes. The barrier vanished and I ran forward and into Sora. He dropped his weapon as he caught me. I pressed my face to his chest as I started pounding my fist against him in a very sad and pathetic way. Tears flowed down my cheeks. "It's not fair," I said, "Nothing's ever fair."

Sora put his hands on my back and patted it softly. He started to say my name but I interrupted him. "I'm never there to save those close to me. They always block me out in their last moments."

I stopped beating his chest. "I don't understand," Sora said in my ear.

"Right before you woke up, Axel got upset about Roxas leaving and he attacked him. I tried to stop the fighting, but Axel surrounded them both with a ring of fire and kept me out. That was right before he had to disappear, so in a way, his last moments. Then when you fought Demyx…he got angry and threw me away. He trapped me with a wall of water. I got to say good-bye but still…why do the people who are closest to me shut me out in their last moments?"

"Axel didn't keep you away when he gave it his all," he said.

I shook my head. "No. But someone that should have cared for me did," I replied looking up at the brunette. He raised his eyebrow. I shook my head again and placed it back against his chest. "Xemnas," I continued, "he was supposed to care for us, for all other Nobodies. But he only ever cared for himself. I was right there! I could have said good-bye to Axel…at least have been there with him a little bit longer, but no! Xemnas, the one who was supposed to be a father to us trapped me and shut me out from the one place I needed to be!"

"It's okay," Sora whispered patting my back again.

"No it's not," I argued. "Xig…Xigbar knew he couldn't defeat you. We all know that the Organization is no match for _you_. Xigbar just wanted…just wanted to fight you with all he had. He did his best, but…but…" I took a few deep breaths. "But still he knew he couldn't win. Oh Sora, why?" I took a few more breaths, calming down. "Even though he knew what would happen, he didn't even let me in—he pushed me away too."

"Maybe those who _did_ push you away didn't want you to have to think you couldn't do anything. I mean, if it's their fate to disappear, maybe they thought that if you weren't pushed away, you would feel guilty that you wouldn't be able to stop it from happening."

"I feel guilty anyway. And it's probably going to continue happening," I said whipping away the tears on my cheeks with one of my hands. "Just watch. It will happen again, I'll be pushed away."

It was quiet for a while. Finally Sora spoke. "Raene, I can't imagine what you're going through. I'm so sorry for what's happened," he said.

I pulled away. "No. Don't be sorry. It's our fate. I…ever since I found out I was gonna disappear, I was the one to accept it, while others didn't. And now, I'm acting so weak. I keep trying to fight the fact that we can't be saved." I sighed. I tried to smile. "I'm the one who should be sorry, Sora. I'm acting so childish. I'm stronger than this, but emotions are just getting the better of me. I'll try to be stronger from now on."

"It's okay, Raene," he said smiling. I smiled back.

"Raene!" a voice called. We all looked up. Kairi was leaning over the edge. "Sora!"

"Kairi!" we both yelled back. "I got Sora for you, we'll be right up!" I added.

I started heading forward when Sora grabbed my hand. "Why did that guy—Xigbar—call me Roxas?" he asked.

I smiled, "I'm going to tell you both really soon. I already promised to answer a bunch of Kairi's questions too." I pulled my hand free and continued forward. He stood disappointed at the lack of answers he was getting, but soon they followed as I led them through the castle. I wasn't sure where I was going but the hallways only really led you in one direction. Heartless and Nobodies attacked us all the way up to Riku and Kairi, _naturally._

When we finally made are way up to the next level of the castle, the Heartless were nearly all defeated—Kairi and Riku did a really good job. We all just stood back as they finished off the last few. When it was over, both summoned away their keyblades. "Kairi, that was amazing!" Donald yelled over.

Kairi turned around and walked over smiling. Riku stayed away. I backed up to let Sora and Kairi have a little space. "Kairi…" Sora said, "I'm so glad to see you."

"When you and Riku never came home I went out to find you," she said.

Sora looked away with a guilty face. "I'm sorry."

Just then Kairi ran into his arms and wrapped her arms around him. "This isn't just a dream, huh?" she said. Sora smiled and placed his hands around her.

Donald, Goofy, and I all smiled shyly at the whole situation. I looked over at Riku, he wasn't watching them; he was turned away. A portal opened in front of him and he stepped closer to it. "Wait." Sora said. If he hadn't said it, I would have. He doesn't need to leave them again—even if he _is_ different. "Ansem! I mean…Xehanort's Heartless…" he took a deep breath and kept a hand on Kairi's shoulder. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again. And after all the stuff you did…I just get so angry thinking about it all." Kairi looked at him smiling—she knew it was Riku but he didn't. "I guess I have to be thankful to you though…you helped Kairi, right? Thanks."

Riku took another step forward. I made to move but Kairi beat me to it. She ran forward, grabbed his arm, and hugged it. "Riku, don't go!" she pleaded. "We're all together again!"

Sora's mouth dropped. Donald and Goofy exchanged confused looks. "Kairi, what did you just say?" Sora asked.

Riku sighed. I could see his face now. You could tell he wanted to pull his arm from her grasp and disappear into the black mist. "Riku," Kairi answered turning to Sora.

Riku attempted to pull his arm away but Kairi held on tight and stumbled. "I'm no one," he said in Ansem's voice. "I'm just a castaway of the darkness."

Kairi turned to Sora again. "You have to come here, say something to him," she ordered kindly.

Sora hesitantly walked over. She grabbed his hand and moved her other from Riku's arm to his hand. "You'll understand," she said placing their hands on top of each other. "Just close your eyes, you'll see," she reassured. He obeyed and closed his eyes. I walked over to the three of them. Kairi smiled at me and motioned with her eyes to place my hand on top of theirs. I shook my head and pointed to my head. I could already see him now. Kairi saw right through Ansem's face to the Riku within. And because she could, I could too. He looked a lot like he did when he fought Roxas in the city streets. But now he was _even_ taller—about Axel's height. His hair was a lot like Axel's too—it flowed down his back in loose spikes.

I could see from Sora's face that he saw the real Riku too. He eventually opened his eyes only to see the Ansem Riku again. His face immediately changed from peaceful happiness to sadness. He kept ahold of Riku's hand and dropped to his knees. "Riku…" he said. He repeated his name a few times. "Riku's here." With both of his hands he squeezed Riku's. "I…I looked everywhere for you, Riku…I looked for so long…" he said as tears started trickling down his cheeks.

"C'mon, Sora," said Riku's normal voice, "you've got to pull it together, you're stronger than this."

Sora shook his head. "I looked everywhere, Riku, everywhere!" he whined.

"Don't you understand, I didn't want you to find me," he replied.

Sora's eyes opened. "What?!"

Goofy said something about someone leaving clues for them. "Wasn't that Riku?" he asked.

Sora stood up and Riku pulled his hand free. "I thought you guys would never catch on. I mean…Sora never did pick the _brightest_ friends," Riku said.

"What do you mean by that?!" Donald quacked.

"Why…why didn't you at least let me know you were okay?" Sora asked hurt. "I had no idea where you were or what had happened once we closed the door to Kingdom Hearts."

"I told you; I didn't want to be found," Riku said. He held his hands up in front of his face—they weren't his. His face turned to the same shameful expression he had had when Kairi pulled back his hood earlier. "I fought with the Ansem you know…Xehanort's Heartless. He invaded my heart and I won. But in order for me to use the power of darkness…this is what I had to become." He put his hands back by his side.

"But, Riku…" Kairi said, "does that mean you can't change back?"

"I still need the power of darkness to win this battle—it's not over yet," Riku answered.

"Let's finish it then!" Sora said. "How 'bout it?" He turned around to face Donald and Goofy. The two walked over. We all got in circle. Riku placed his hand on my back briefly and smiled. I smiled back as Sora said, "You're still Riku no matter what."

"Let's go!" Kairi said. She turned and walked towards a doorway to the side. Everyone followed closely behind her. I jumped to the front and led the way. When we came through the doorway, there was a small staircase on the other side. Light poured from the top down the dark, empty shaft. I continued to the lead the way.

When we all reached the top and spread out so as not to be too crowded, we all glanced around quickly. I took a step ahead of the others. "What is this place?" Kairi asked from behind me.

I was afraid to find out the answer.

**--**

**Ok, I know—worse place to end a chapter but I had to get this out. I'm so worried I'm losing readers and fans because of my slow updates. But don't worry, the original plan for this chapter would only have been about one page longer and not much would be added to it really, just rambles. Sorry again to end this chapter so lamely. Thanks for reading, hope you all are still there. )**

**Sarah**

**Also…any questions still…I need some feedback for the extra chapter at the end. )**


	36. Explanations

So I'm hoping since I'm starting this a few days after chapter 35's upload that I should get this up and not make you guys wait so much. But then again, who knows how long it might take me to finish this chapter.

**Before we get on with the story though…if any of you are interested, I've made some fan art of Kingdom Hearts and they are uploaded on my deviantart account gallery. I just recently put up two. You can see them here ****.com/gallery/#Kingdom-Hearts**** Hope that link works. **

**Anyhow, on with the next chapter…**

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I did a quick glance over of the room as I stepped into it. The floor was a plain light grey color and the ceiling had teal pipes snaking about it. The two sidewalls had piping on them too. Inside I could see neon colored liquids rushing about in different directions. The room was slightly inclined. At the other end, the higher end was a blank grey wall. I could see the outline of an opening in it, but it appeared to be sealed shut.

When Kairi spoke I finally began to pay attention to what was located in the room before us. The first actual _thing _I noticed was the mist that occasionally drifted near us. It was mix of the colors red, purple, and black, and was cold to the touch. "Raene?" Kairi asked when no one answered.

"I don't know," I replied. Ignoring the other items in the room, I crossed to the other side and examined the opposite wall. "It's closed shut!" I called back to the others. I turned around looking around quickly for another exit. The others were still at the other end.

"It's so creepy in here, feels like a graveyard," Kairi said quietly.

"How do you not know where we are? This is _your_ home," Sora said.

"Yeah, but…" I started to say. I looked to my right. There was a red light glowing from the ground. I walked in front of it and examined it. "This…this is Xemnas's part of the castle. Younger members aren't allowed in." The light was coming from a coffin-shaped panel on the ground. Behind the panel, coming up from the floor was another panel, but it was smashed into several pieces. I was about to stand up when I saw words written on the ground in front of the panel. I bent forward and squinted to read it. _"The Free Shooter."_ A sudden sense of déjà vu swept over me. I placed my hand on the panel and brushed away some of the dust collected there. There was a picture of Xigbar's two guns.

I stood up quickly and looked across the center isle. There was another red panel on the floor. I bent down in front of that one and read the words below it. _"The Whirlwind Lancer."_ I had seen this panel before. Riku, Kairi, and Sora walked up to me and glanced down and Xaldin's "grave".

"This can't be!" I said standing up suddenly.

"What?!" Sora asked. I pushed through them and began spinning around looking at the different panels.

"I've been here before…" I said. "When we had a funeral for Xaldin we came to this same room. There were white sheets…blocking out the rest of the room." I looked at the next row of panels. A red one with Vexen's shield and another red one with Lexaeus's tomahawk were on the row below Xigbar's. "Axel killed him," I said pointing to Vexen's as I crossed the isle to the two below Xaldin's.

"Axel killed another member?" Sora asked following me.

I nodded. "And the one next to it…Riku…" I said glancing at the completely destroyed panel belonging to Zexion. I couldn't even see his weapon because of the damage.

"Riku?" Sora said turning to his friend. "When did _you_ defeat one of them?" Riku didn't answer.

"And this one too…" I continued.

"No," Riku said. I looked up at him. "I didn't kill Zexion. That was Vexen's replica of me."

"The replica?" I said. I remembered hearing something about a replica that the members at Castle Oblivion wanted to use against Sora. "_He _killed Zexy?" I asked.

"Zexion…yes…" he replied.

"But why?" I asked confused. "The replica had no reason to do so."

"He was manipulated. He was told that he could be real if he got the power to defeat me—power I didn't have."

"But it's impossible for him to be real. Who would lie to him like that?"

"Your buddy Axel," he said in with a cocky tone.

I shook my head. "No. No, Axel wouldn't do that. He was loyal to the Organization, just like Zexion."

"He killed Vexen," he reminded me.

"To rid us of traitors like Marluxia and Larxene," I argued. I looked quickly at the other people in the room. They all had confused looks on their faces. "He had no reason to betray his superior," I added looking back at the smashed grave.

"Entertainment," Riku said. "He did for his own pleasure, he had no other reason. He's messed up, that one."

"_Was _messed up. You forget he's dead," I said.

"So you agree he was crazy?"

"Enough!" I said moving to the panel next to it. "You still killed Lexaeus," I said quietly.

"When did you defeat a member, Riku?" Sora asked pulling on his sleeve.

"Haven't you noticed yet, Sora?" I asked calmly. He turned to look at me. "Look here," I said pointing to the panel in front of me. "This panel's blue and all the others we've seen have been red. This belongs to Saïx. See here." I pointed to his title. "'The Luna Diviner'".

"What about him? What haven't I noticed?"

"He's still alive! Blue means life!" I said. He looked at me confused. "Look around, Sora. How many blue ones do you see?"

He turned around then looked back at me. "Three," he replied.

"So how many does that leave to have already been killed?" He held up his fingers and started counting them off. "A lot, Sora. But how many do you _remember _killing?"

"Well, that Xigbar guy, Xaldin, and…" he thought for a minute. "And Demyx."

"Well, that's three, Axel died, then these three," I said pointing at the graves of members 4, 5, and 6. "That's seven, Sora," I said.

He turned and looked around again. "But, Raene, there's only 12 in here," he said.

I did a quick glance. There were only twelve as he said. There were four left alive, Xemnas, Luxord, Saïx, and Roxas. That still left two he couldn't explain. "Look," I said as I jumped down to the row behind me. I brushed the dust off the panel on the isle-side. Underneath was the image of a scythe. "This is Marluxia." I brushed off the dust on the panel next to it too. "And Larxene."

"Who are they?" Kairi asked.

I sighed. "After you sealed the door to Kingdom Hearts…some things occurred that you don't remember. Xemnas had established another Organization headquarters. He sent Marluxia, Larxene, Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion there," I said pointing at each grave as I said their name. "And he put Marluxia in charge." Sora nodded and I continued, "Marluxia and Larxene wanted to take over the Organization. They asked Axel to come along and they wanted me to, too, but Axel wouldn't let me go. Axel would have to gain their trust first, however. He did by killing Vexen who threatened to destroy their plan."

"How did they plan to take over the Organization?" Sora interrupted.

"Naminé…you remember talking about her?" He nodded. "She has the power to control the memories of people. Marluxia kidnapped her and forced her to do as he wished."

"What did he want her to do?" he asked.

"Bring you down," I answered. He looked at me for a while. His face held confusion and shock. Riku stood with his arms across his chest, his eyes shifting back and forth between us. Kairi mouth opened slightly and she glanced at Sora. She moved closer to him and placed her hand gently on his forearm.

"What…what do you mean?" he asked after a while.

"When you, Goofy, and Donald," I said glancing at his companions, "closed Riku and King Mickey in Kingdom Hearts you continued on in the only direction available, right?"

"That's right," Goofy said, "Pluto was holding an envelope with the King's seal on it."

"Yeah," Donald joined in, "we started chasing him down the one path.

"And then?" Sora said questioning his own memory. The other two shrugged. Sora looked at me for the answer. "We woke up in Twilight Town?"

I shook my head. "You're forgetting a lot, Sora," I said. "A man in black cloak came to you and told you that ahead was something to needed, but in order to get it, you would have to lose something dear to you. He led you to Castle Oblivion. From the moment you entered the doors, your memories began to fade into the darkness."

"How come I don't remember this?" Sora asked angrily.

"Relax, Sora. Let her explain," Riku said.

I smiled. "You slowly began to lose parts of your memories. With each level you went up, you lost more and more. Parts of your memories were revisited though. You traveled simulated versions of worlds you had traveled to in your past—like Traverse Town. That was the first place you went to, and when you discovered that this Leon and Yuffie and Aerith and Cid and others that you came upon had forgotten you, you were very sad. You learned as you went though that these worlds were just parts of your memories. The Leon you met in this virtual Traverse Town wouldn't remember you when you woke up because he wasn't the real Leon."

I took a deep breath and continued. "So then you began to remember this girl from the islands…another one besides Kairi. You could barely remember anything about her at first, not even her name. As you went further in the castle, your friends kept losing _all_ their memories. You, too, lost memories, but you gained some as well. New ones replaced the ones you lost. Kairi, the person most precious to you, as you said, was no longer; the person who took her place was Naminé."

"What do you mean I forgot Kairi?!" Sora shouted. "How could I forget one of my best friends?"

"Sora," Riku warned. He turned to me. "Please…continue, Raene."

"Marluxia's plan was to make you fragile because of your caring for Naminé. You would be drawn farther into their trap to make you their puppet. Larxene approached you and told you that Naminé was in the castle. You remembered a promise you had made to her when you were little kids that you would protect her no matter what. And because of this false promise, you continued on, becoming a puppet just as Marluxia wanted. With you doing as he wanted they would use you to take over. Naminé was forced to change your memories, but all this time she felt terrible for doing so. Axel's the one who convinced her to tell you. After defeating a replica Riku, made by Vexen to turn you against the real Riku, you carried on and defeated Larxene and Marluxia. See, the whole time Axel had been playing as a double-agent to rid the Organization of the two traitors."

"How does that explain those two's deaths?" Sora asked pointing to Lexaeus's and Zexion's graves.

"The same time you were traveling through the castle above ground, I was below ground working to find you," Riku said. "Vexen made a replica of me which he sent to tear us apart. Naminé too was forced to changed its memories so that we would fight over Naminé…just as we used to over Kairi." He turned smiling at my sister who smiled back and him. "In the end I destroyed the original source of the darkness in my heart…Ansem, and I killed No. 5 of the Organization and fought against No. 6. It was the replica in the end who ended up defeating him completely."

"What happened to you in the end? And me? What happened to me?" Sora asked turning to me.

"Naminé told you what she had done and offered you the chance to regain the old memories sleeping deep inside your heart. She told you that you'd be able to remember the real girl from the islands. In exchange for regaining your old memories, though, you'd have to give up the ones that you gained in Castle Oblivion."

"I agreed to the old memories?" Sora said calmly, to no one directly.

I nodded. "You were reluctant because you felt that you were Naminé's friend, but she convinced you to sleep. It would take a year for you to awaken, but it was as though nothing changed."

"I don't remember her at all," Sora said turning to Donald and Goofy. They both shook their heads, showing that they don't either.

"Donald and Goofy went to sleep too so they could remember their quest, and the king, and all their past," I added. Sora lowered his eyes to the ground and became strangely quiet. "Although you don't remember her, she's still apart of you." He looked up at me. "She told you that your memories would never be completely lost, only forgotten. In my case, the people of my past will never remember me because Naminé erased them entirely. You won't ever remember the time you spent in Castle Oblivion because Naminé rearranged them to be separate from your conscience ones."

"I feel odd, Naminé was a good friend to my old memory…but I forgot her. It just seems terrible."

"It is terrible, but it's not over yet. You'll meet again."

"So what happened to you, Riku?" Sora asked turning to his friend.

"Naminé gave me a choice as well. I didn't lose any of memories in the castle. I was busy fighting off Ansem, who was trying to regain control of me. I found Naminé after you went to sleep and she explained everything to me. She said that Ansem would resurface from the darkness in my heart and I'd have to fight him…also that he would most likely win."

"Ansem? The Heartless Ansem, right?" Sora asked.

Riku nodded. "Naminé told me that she could lock my heart so that he could never come back; I'd be back to how I used to be."

"But there was a catch?" Kairi said.

He nodded again. "I would lose my memories of the castle and my memories of the darkness. Earlier in the castle, Naminé had come to me. She was disguised as you, Kairi, in order to convince me to listen to her. She told me to accept both the darkness and the light to overcome my enemy. I did that, so when she told me that I had to choose between my destruction and losing half of who I was, I chose to fight Ansem. I had fought the darkness before and had won. The darkness is more a part of me than of anybody else in the realm of light. Naminé was proud of my decision. She said that was what she hoped I would choose. She said I was the only one who could beat him."

"That's really brave, Riku," Kairi said, reaching her hand out to his arm. He pulled away.

"We should get going," he said. "There are still three more members in this castle." He walked to a blue portal, looked down at the name, and nearly stepped through.

"Wait!" I said. They all looked at me. I went to the left of Riku to where two red graves sat in a shadow. I sat down. "Just a moment, I promise." Kairi sat down next to me.

"Raene?" She said.

"I'm fine," I replied. I placed my hand on Demyx's grave. "I wonder what's gonna happen to me once I disappear…" I said. "He always questioned that."

"He was your friend?" She asked.

I nodded and scooted further left to Axel's grave. "Nobodies aren't supposed to show emotion…since we don't have hearts. Axel, on the day we met, told me that he felt like he had a heart because of his friends. I believe what they always told us, about not being able to be happy or sad or angry…or to love or hate someone…isn't true. I mean, how could we have friendships if we didn't? How could we not show any emotion when someone died or when something good happened?"

"Nobodies remember what emotions are like…from their past lives, remember?" Riku said.

"How could Roxas and Naminé feel emotions though? They don't remember their past lives."

"Their others are both very unique people," he said. "And I'm sure someone like you helped them to understand them too."

"I wanna disappear. I know I shouldn't, and I know Axel would want me to stop it from happening. Even if it is possible to stop it though, I'll never see Axel and Demyx again. And once it happens to Roxas and Naminé, they'll be gone too. I wanna disappear so I can see people who have forgotten me one day…maybe my mom and dad. The people I grew up with, even the ones who aren't the greatest people in the world, I wanna see them again. Because we were family."

Kairi touched my shoulder. "It's gonna be okay, Raene," she said.

I looked at her and nodded. She helped me up. I reached in my pocket and pulled out the note Axel had left me. I read it once more, and I could feel a tear collecting in my eye. I smiled, rolled it back up, and placed it in my pocket once more. "I love you guys," I said to the graves as Riku led me to the blue portal. As we disappeared through the door, I looked at Roxas's portal and whispered, "He'll be the last one."

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Hello there, everyone! I don't suppose I need anyone to accept my apology. I'm so slow on updating. But, nonetheless, I have updated and am still working on the story. Hope you enjoy this one. I'll get to work on the next one as soon as possible. It's been harder to get free time to sit at the computer and just type. So enjoy! And I'm terribly sorry again! Love you guys, and thanks so much for sticking with me.

~Sarah


	37. The Truth

Hello there everyone! I appreciate all the kind comments for the last chapter. Thanks for sticking with me! I promise if you stay with me, you won't be disappointed. I will finish it. It's just a lot harder to have the time to do this. I have no plans to give up. It's all planned out in my head here, I just gotta type it up of course ^_^

**Disclaimer- I do not own anything but Raene…blah blah blah…**

"I still have so many questions," Sora said as we came through the portal.

We all stopped. I was about to say something to him but Riku spoke first. "Sora, I know it's hard to have heard all of that at once back there. Raene still has more to tell too," he said looking at me. Sora looked over at me. "But it'll have to wait," he said with a change in his tone.

We turned to look at him. He was looking up at the heart-shaped moon. A large beam of light was striking it from somewhere further up the castle. "What is it?" Kairi asked.

"It's gotta be King Mickey and DiZ…I mean Ansem the Wise," Riku said.

"My King?" I said excitedly.

Riku nodded. "It's funny. You hated him for a whole year when Naminé was working with us," he said.

"I didn't understand what side I was on. You and DiZ were planning to get rid of Roxas. You have to understand."

He nodded. "We should head higher up."

We took two steps when suddenly a portal popped up between Sora, who was in front, and the rest of us. Luxord appeared from the darkness smirking. He snapped his fingers, and a circle of his life size cards surrounded all of us, minus Sora. They began to spin quickly around in a circle, blocking our view.

In what seemed like the span of a few seconds the cards disappeared. Sora was supporting himself against his Keyblade and was breathing heavily. "Are you okay?" asked Kairi, running up to him. He nodded.

Riku looked at me with a questioning look? I nodded. Luxord was gone, not that I much cared for him anyway. "We can't get up any higher this way. Let's head back and find another way," Riku said turning around and heading back through the portal to the graveyard room. Once inside, he led us to the portal above Saïx's grave. "One of these doors has to lead somewhere."

Inside was a room several stories tall. The far wall was one whole window facing the large heart-shaped moon. Its light lit up the entire room. Saïx stood at the base of the window with his back to us. Upon hearing our entrance, he turned to face us. He smirked and said, "It's not a surprise that the Keybearer is the only one to come this far, Roxas."

"I'm sick of everyone calling me Roxas!" Sora shouted jumping forward.

Donald and Goofy dove in front of him and raised their arms as if forming a protective wall. In unison they shouted, "Yeah! His name is Sora!"

Saïx's smirk disappeared and was replaced by a scowl. "Different name, same fate," he said summoning his large claymore. I saw Kairi hold out her arm attempting to summon her newly acquired Keyblade. I jumped forward to fight, but just then Saïx swung his weapon in a large arc in front of his body. A powerful gust of wind flew forward from him and came stampeding toward us. I was prepared to hold my strength against it, but as it hit us Riku jumped in front of Kairi and I, wrapping his arm around us. The wind was so strong that we were forced backward several feet. Sora, Donald, and Goofy had somehow managed to stand their ground up ahead.

Saïx's body contorted slightly as if something had suddenly possessed him. Then, just as quickly, he was still, standing poised with his weapon in hand and his head bent forward with his chin on his chest. His hair seemed to stand up even more than usual. As he lifted his head to look at us, I noticed his eyes were burning like fire and the smirk he had recently been sporting was now replaced with a snarl. His teeth were bared as if he were some rabid animal.

"No!" I shouted running forward to Sora.

Riku grabbed my arm as I tried to pass him. "They can handle this," he said.

"No. You don't understand. Saïx gathers power from the moon. Look at him!" I pointed a finger at the Nobody who was panting, his chest heaving. He looked like some beast preparing to pounce on his trapped prey. Riku's eyes followed my finger and then, fully of worry, looked back at me. "You see him, don't you? No one wins when he's Berserk like that!" He looked back at the soon-to-begin fight. Sora and the others were watching Saïx carefully as he moved a few feet to either side, as if calculating the amount of damage that would result from his attack.

"You're right. Let's go," Riku said. Summoning his Keyblade, he ran toward Sora. The next second he was lying on his back rubbing his forehead with his palm.

"Riku!" Kairi said dropping her own weapon she had managed to summon. She fell to her knees next to the now sitting Riku. "Are you okay? What happened?"

I already knew what had happened. Like so many times before, a shield had encircled the battle I was not to have any participation in. The three of us stood at the invisible wall and watched. There was nothing else we could to.

Saïx attacked first. He moved in circular movements around the room so that by the time his opponents knew it, they were already trapped. Once he was in striking distance he would swipe rapidly with his massive, spiked weapon. Every few minutes, his advanced power would wear off, and he would have to rely on his natural abilities. However, the more and more Sora and the others got a hit on him, Saïx's anger would rise even more. After a certain point, his anger was so high that he could call upon the moon's power again.

We helplessly watched at the fight raged on. After three or four times of Saïx regaining his Berserk abilities, Sora and the others were barely able to stand up. Donald, after getting hit over the head, collapsed unconscious. Kairi and I both winced. Sora and Goofy were both too occupied, either fighting Saïx or one of the dozen Berserk Nobodies that he had summoned, to help him.

After several minutes four lesser Nobodies jumped on top of Goofy, creating some sort of dog pile. When they all clumsily stood up, Goofy too was unconscious. At that exact second, Saïx, who was fighting Sora, regained his animal like appearance and began circling him at speeds far too fast for Sora to follow. The attacks happened quickly now. Sora wouldn't last much longer without back up.

"That's it!" I shouted. My outburst caught Riku and Kairi off guard, because they both jumped suddenly. "I'm not going to sit by and just watch them die!" I passed between them. I reached the see-through wall and held out my hands to summon both Keyblades. The air near my hands visibly shifted and the image of my two weapons appeared. But they were see-through. They disappeared, and I staggered.

"Are you alright?" my sister said grabbing my upper arm with both her hands. I nodded and tried again to summon them.

The same thing happened twice more. "I'm just too weak," I said. I took two deep breaths and looked up at Sora who was struggling to keep up against Saïx. As I tried once more to summon a Keyblade, Riku grabbed my hand in his and helped steady me.

"It's okay. I got ya," he said. The formation solidified until the black Keyblade appeared firmly in my hand. Riku kept a hold on my hand for a few moments to make sure I could handle it. When he finally released it, I thrust the blade into the wall. I grasped the handle with both hands and twisted it into the barrier, deeper and deeper.

It wasn't giving in. I could feel Kairi and Riku's eyes upon my back as I fruitlessly attempted to help my friends on the other side. I knew that Riku wouldn't try to stop me or offer help; he knew this was something I had to do. I couldn't just sit there. I had to try the impossible. I kept pressing all my weight against the Keyblade, but nothing broke through. Drops of sweat appeared on my forehead, and my knees began to give out.

"Raene," Kairi whispered behind me. Even though her voice was quiet, it rang out louder than all the sounds of the battle in front of us. I did not respond to her pleading whisper. When she repeated my name with more urgency, I glanced over my shoulder at her. Her eyes were wide with shock and fear. She was looking at my body. I looked down and found that I could see the tiled floor through my slightly transparent legs. I was fading again.

I looked at Riku who was watching as my body flickered between opaqueness and transparency. My eyes questioned him. "Raene," he spoke quietly, "You're not done." I knew what he meant. He wanted me to stop struggling, for I'd disappear if I tried much longer.

I bit my lip, not loosening my grip on the Keyblade. I stole a quick glance back at Sora and the others. Saïx swung his weapon and hit the brunette squarely in the chest, sending him back several feet. I looked back at Riku. Kairi stood by his side now, her face full of worry. "I—I can't just let…." I began.

"I know," Riku interrupted. "But these two need to know everything. If you continue like this, they'll never know." Kairi looked at him trying to understand what he was alluding to. "You'll disappear and they'll never know the truth."

"You could tell them, Riku," I said firmly turning my attention back to pushing through the shield.

"Raene!" Riku said forcefully. I struggled against both his stern tone and the jelly-like feeling that was taking over my lower body. Just as I was about to give up, the shield suddenly gave way. My Keyblade fell from my hand, hit the ground, bounced once, then disappeared. The strength slowly started crawling back up my legs. I straightened up and looked ahead where the battle had suddenly stopped.

Sora was standing in front of his still recovering friends while Saïx stood hunched over in front of the gargantuan window. With one hand he held his claymore, which now seemed too heavy for him to hold, and with the other he grasped his forehead in pain. After several seconds of tense silence, he straightened his pose, lowered his hand from his face, and dropped his weapon, which vanished as it hit the floor. He turned his back on us and looked up at the large moon floating above the castle's tallest tower.

He limped closer and closer to the glass of the window and then lowered himself onto his knees where he began to take huge, heaving breathes. He snickered quietly, and I tensed up. "Raene," he spoke. His voice, like Kairi's, had been nothing more than a whisper, yet it still carried across the vast room to me and sounded as loud and clear as if he was standing right beside me. He snickered again. "It's extraordinary that you two—the youngest—were able to last this long."

"You just couldn't accept the truth," I said. I was astonished that my voice came out as loud as it did. I had been certain that I was too weak and frightened to sound at all brave and strong.

"And what truth is that?" He asked.

"That our hearts are, and always were, stronger than yours could ever have been."

He snickered for the last time. "Hearts? You still think that you have one? That any of us have one?" He looked back at me for the last time. "You lost yours nine years ago. You have no heart! I'm only ashamed that we couldn't raise you to understand that fact."

"No, you're just ashamed that you couldn't reach your goal to regain one," I replied. He looked away. "You weren't good enough to have such an honor."

He was silent then for several moments. In that quiet span of time, Kairi, Riku, and I managed to scoot forward to stand beside Sora and the others, watching the Nobody as he pondered his fate. We heard a sigh and waited for him to speak. When he did so, it was not directed at us. He reached, with the last bit of strength, a hand up toward the heart-shaped moon and whispered, "Why? Kingdom Hearts, where is my heart?" And then, as I had witnessed far too many times for one life, black specks began to fly off his body and float upward. This continued until he was just a fleeting cloud of black nothingness. And then Saïx was no more.

Sora turned to Riku and I then. He was wearing a frown on his usually perky face. He looked the two of us in the eye and then asked, "Why does everyone keep calling me Roxas?"

Riku looked at me. He corner of his lip curved into a smirk. I nodded slightly, ashamed that I couldn't do this myself. "Because, Sora," he said, "Roxas is your Nobody."

"What?" His eyes opened wide. Kairi did not appear to be shocked by this news. "How is that possible? When did I ever turn into a Heartless?" By the time he finished the question, however, he looked as if he already knew the answer.

"When you came to rescue me, remember?" Kairi said smiling.

Riku spoke. "Xemnas brought Roxas into the Organization because he, like you, could wield the Keyblade. Roxas found out about you and betrayed them. He left them to find the truth. I fought him, hoping I'd win and be able to help you wake up. But I lost." He looked ashamed. "I had to call upon the darkness inside me to help me win the second time I fought him. That's how I came to look like this."

"He really wanted to meet you, Sora," I said. "He wanted to know the truth. But Xemnas wouldn't allow him to; it would ruin everything he had been planning."

"I want to meet him too. I guess you do as well, huh?" He said looking at me. Riku stepped forward and pointed a gloved finger at Sora's chest. "He's in here?" he asked.

"Yes. He's your Nobody, Sora." I answered. "When you woke up in Twilight Town, he had to go somewhere. It was the darkness to which he traveled. A part of him still resides in your heart, though. When the time comes, he'll fully join with you. And then all of him will be there."

"It's the same with Naminé," Riku added. Everyone looked at him. "Kairi, when you accepted the darkness into your heart to change Sora back, a Nobody was created too. She was different, because she was never supposed to exist…you being a Princess of Heart and all."

"I met her. You and her helped me escape," Kairi said, looking at me.

"She was working together with DiZ and Riku to help you wake up, Sora," I said. She wanted to fix everything that she had done in Castle Oblivion. Riku wanted his best friend back. And DiZ wanted to destroy the Organization. The original six members were his students a long time ago and they turned on him. He's been seeking revenge this whole time. He needed you to awaken so you could finish the job. I was angry at what the three of them were doing. They had taken Roxas away from Axel and me, and I felt betrayed by Naminé since she was my best friend too. It took a lot of reasoning for me to understand. I was stubborn and sometimes I still get angry thinking about it. More than anything I just want my friends back, the four of us. But Naminé, like Roxas, is soon to join with her other—you Kairi. But I guess you already figured that out somehow?"

"I felt something," she answered simply.

I nodded and then said, "We better get going. We have to get you to Xemnas, Sora. You have to fight him. You have to put everything right. And you too need to be whole."

"Why do you keep disappearing, Raene?" Kairi asked. "You and Naminé both kept doing it earlier. What's happening to you?"

I turned and began to say that it could wait, but Riku spoke instead.

"You need to tell her, Raene." I turned slowly and faced my twin. I knew everything, and she knew so little.

"Tell me what?" Kairi asked. She was looking at me, wanting me to answer, but I could not do it. I was too weak.

"Kairi, Raene is your sister."

**There you go guys. I know, I know, It's been forever. But I'm getting it done slowly but surely. Here's chapter 37. We're so closed to being done. And I'm so happy to have you all to stick with me. Enjoy, and I'll be out with 38 as soon as I can =)**


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